Black & White
by puellaignava
Summary: Something I've been working on for a few months. It's been good practise and I'm having a lot of fun with it. Please don't be harsh. ): For more information and reference pictures please follow this link: tinyurl(DOT)com/gqw5ngl
1. Chapter 1

He knew he shouldn't have allowed her to come on missions. This hadn't been her first, but still. Sarah was small and, she'd kill him for thinking this, fragile. "I shouldn't have let her….if I had…" he murmured, repeating the same sentiment he had been muttering for thirty minutes. When Pidge had told him, voice trembling and avoiding his gaze, it felt like his heart stopped. Sarah had been captured by Galra soldiers. And worse still, they were taking her directly to Zarkon himself. Pidge had overheard them saying they had seen "this human" with the Black Paladin on multiple occasions, and were eager to get what could be a important hostage to Zarkon. "I should've….I Could have…If I hadn't…." Shiro murmured. Allura laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, stopping him; he didn't realise he had been pacing this whole time. The others were elsewhere, with the exception of Pidge; he vaguely recalled Allura sending them off to do maintenance on the lions. But Pidge hadn't budged.

"Pidge, tell us exactly what happened." Allura said, turning to the Green Paladin. Her voice was mostly steady, but there was a slight nervous waver in it. She had to remain calm for the team, as Shiro was currently unfit to do so. He stared at his hands, which were shaking terribly. How long had they been shaking?

Pidge sniffled, wiping away tears. "W-well we were going in to plant the bugs, and we were on our way back when a guard spotted us. We were running through the bushes, staying low….she….Sarah lost her footing…" Pidge trailed off, staring at the floor. Shiro could fill in the blanks: the Galra caught up to her and restrained her, it wouldn't be that hard, Sarah was so small….

He sank to the floor, his face in his hands as he tried not to think of terrible things. "She's so small….they're going to hurt her…." he said between sobs.

Allura knelt beside him, placing a comforting hand on his back. "Shiro, this is Sarah, remember? She has contingency plans for her contingency plans. If anyone can escape Zarkon's clutches on their own, it'd be her." Shiro looked up at the princess. "And besides," she continued. "She won't be on her own."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"We're going to go rescue her. Just you and me."/p


	2. Chapter 2

She had been so careful. She'd only gone on a handful of missions, but she was always careful not to be seen or caught. She didn't want to put any undue strain on the team, especially Shiro, who was almost always stressed as it was, though he hid it well. But here she was, in Galra custody and making life more difficult for everyone. On top of that, she wasn't being taken in as a random prisoner. No, she was a hostage. They knew about her connections to the Paladins. They were taking her straight to Zarkon himself. Her mind wandered to the crew, and to Shiro. She was trying to imagine how everyone would react to her being captured. She figured most of them would be worried about her, but pegged Keith as being either pissy or annoyed. They hadn't ever really got along, and after a month she had stopped trying and just accepted it. For some reason, his imagined reaction bothered her the most. It was likely because it was in line with her thinking; she was useless on missions, just a damsel in distress waiting to happen. In that moment, she couldn't really argue against that.

Upon reaching Zarkon's central command, Sarah was hard at work trying to absorb as much information as she could. She especially kept an eye out for any sign of escape pods or small craft she could sneak away in. While she was doing this, she was also rubbing her fingers together, trying to build up a good deal of quintessence energy that she could use when she needed to. She hadn't used White Magic in years, There was always the risk that you could exhaust yourself to a point of no return. Her parents had warned her about those who died when they pushed themselves too far. Her sister, Kayla, didn't take to it like she had. She had the knowledge and the ability, but thought the risk was too great to continue. Sarah was cautiously fascinated, and studied theory more than actually practising. This would be her first real test, and she hoped theory was enough.

Before she knew it, they were escorting her into the bridge. She didn't realise just how scared she was, but she set that aside, trying to focus on building up quintessence and Zarkon. He was in the middle of the room, looking out at his fleet. He didn't turn until one of the guards who escorted her announced her presence. Smiling he walked up to her, stopping only a few feet away.

"The Black Paladin's lover, unless I'm mistaken?" he said with a chuckle that made her grimace. With her hands cuffed behind her, she hoped no one would notice how furiously she was rubbing her fingers together. "You are quite the prize. Yes, I think you will be very useful indeed." He grabbed her chin and forced her to look up into his eyes. "You could prove to be his greatest weakness."

"No." she snarled. "I'm his greatest strength." Now was the time to see if her build up was enough. She released a white energy pulse that broke her cuffs and pushed those around her back several feet. Had they been on guard, she likely wouldn't have made it out the door. But as they hadn't expected her to be capable of much of anything, she had the element of surprise on her side and that made all the difference. She heard Zarkon yelling at guards to catch her, and as she turned a corner red warning lights began flashing as an alarm sounded. Thinking quickly, she pulled off a vent grate and squeezed in, pulling it back on as she eased into the small space. It was times like these that she was glad she was tiny. She paused, taking a moment to orient herself.

First, she had to maneuver through the air vent system until she found a hanger or an escape pod. Hopefully, Zarkon's robots wouldn't be smart enough to check unusual places, and his Galra soldiers wouldn't think to look in small places. From her understanding and experience, Galra were focused on action, not sneaking around. She knew she could easily be proven wrong. But now was not the time to think about that. Sarah needed to get out of central command somehow. Trying to picture the layout of the halls she had been escorted through and figure where she was in relation to them, she began to crawl.

As she moved along, the sound of running troops started to fade. So far, it seemed no one had thought to look in the air vents for the escaped human. When she got to a point where she couldn't even hear the echo of the robots hunting her, she looked through the nearest vent grate. The hall was empty, and she could just make out a hanger a short way along. "Score." she murmured, carefully removing the grate. Though she hadn't seen anyone, she didn't want to make any noise, just in case. After slipping out and righting herself, she replaced the grate gently and began to lightly run to the hanger.

As she reached a junction just before the hanger, she heard footsteps approaching from the left. Sarah slowed and hugged the wall, waiting for them to pass and praying they didn't notice her. She was expecting Galra soldiers. She was not expecting Shiro and Allura.

"Shiro?" she asked. She couldn't believe it, they had come for her and so quickly. The relief on his face when he turned and saw her made her heart melt. He ran to her and picked her up, holding her close. Letting her down, his lips found hers and they were kissing as if there was no tomorrow. Allura had to clear her throat to bring them back to the present.

"What happened? We got here and the alarms were already sounding. How'd you escape?" the Princess asked.

Before Sarah could answer, another voice spoke up. "I was wondering that myself."

The three turned to see Haggar in the hanger alone. Shiro and Allura tensed up, both taking a stance as Shiro maneuvered Sarah behind him.

"Shiro, stand down." the small girl said, patting him on the shoulder. "I got this." She moved in front of them, facing the black witch head on. "I'll show you." she growled. Haggar's smirk faded as a ball of white energy formed in Sarah's hand. "You and me, witch. Let's dance."


	3. Chapter 3

Sarah still had quintessence energy built up from earlier and hoped it was enough. She didn't know what Haggar was capable of; just that she was a black witch who had tortured and experimented on Shiro. That was unforgivable, and for what could be the only time ever, Sarah had a chance to take the witch out. She didn't intend to waste it.

"White witch." Haggar snarled as a black ball of energy formed in her hand, crackling like a small lightning storm.

Sarah smirked. "You got that right." She vanished, in a manner similar to that of the druids. Haggar took to looking wildly around her; it was clear she was not used to an adversary who was her equivalent. Sarah flashed back into existence a few steps behind her, hurling her glowing ball with as much force as she could. Haggar only just barely blocked it; it ricocheted and hit one of the fighter crafts in the hanger. The ship exploded, throwing flaming chunks all over, but the witches were too focused on each other to care.

The two volleyed quintessence energy at teach other, alternating between dodging, throwing volatile balls of energy, or slicing the air with pulses that crackled with lightning. It was an even match that was quickly destroying the integrity of the hanger.

Haggar switched it up first; Sarah was suddenly surrounded by dozens of clones, all laughing and jeering. "I never expected a white witch to be so formidable. I thought your kind avoided extensive use, lest they exhaust themselves and die."

"I'm not dying today." Sarah growled, focusing on Haggar's voice. She pinpointed the real witch amongst the illusions and vanished in a flash, only to reappear in front of the Black Witch, her fist glowing white and in full swing. She punched Haggar straight in the face, the force of which threw the Galra tumbling back several feet. Her clones disintegrated into smoke as she shakily got back on her feet.

"I suppose I should expect such ferocity from the lover of my champion." Haggar spat, wiping blood from her lip.

The air crackled around Sarah, as though her anger and hatred were manifesting in the form of quintessence. "HE'S NOT YOUR CHAMPION." she roared, firing a beam of white at the Black Witch, knocking her off her feet and into the wall of the hanger. Sarah teleported, vanishing and then reappearing as if she were smoke, to where Haggar lay crumpled on the ground. The Black Witch tried to rise but couldn't seem to muster the strength. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sarah realised this apparent victory was only possible because of luck and the element of surprise; she wanted to end Haggar, because if they were to face each other again, Haggar could easily over power her. Sarah's fist began to glow blindingly white, crackling with lightning as she built up a charge. "He's mine." she said venomously.

Before she could obliterate the witch, she disappeared, leaving Sarah to blast a hole in the floor. She looked around, trying to see if she could sense Haggar's quintessence, but she could not. "Ok…" she said, panting. "She's gone….she fled…." With her adrenaline fading, she began to realise how much her muscles were screaming at her. White magic required the user's life force as a conduit and medium to manipulate quintessence. It was true what Haggar had said; white witches could easily exhaust themselves and die if they weren't careful. Sarah heard Shiro and Allura running to her, she could tell they were speaking to her, but her world had grown muted, and then everything went black.

The next time she opened her eyes, she was in a cryopod. She heard muffled voices just outside that became clearer when the pod opened. Before she could blink to adjust to the change in light, Shiro was there, easing her down onto the steps.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, holding her close to him. "Will you be….ok?"

It took her a second to catch on. "Oh…yea, I feel fine…a little disoriented but that might be the cryopod…"

Allura knelt down in front of her and took one of Sarah's hands in her own. "Sarah…how did you learn to manipulate quintessence like that?" she asked carefully.

"My…my parents taught me and my sister and my brother….I think it was a family thing….they weren't sure if Kayla and I could learn it since we were human but we did…." She looked from Allura to Coran and back. "Are there…not a lot of white witches?"

Allura shook her head. "I don't know if I've ever heard of a white witch before."

Sarah blinked, though in hindsight she realised she shouldn't be all that surprised. She hadn't known any white witches outside of her family, and they had warned her not to be too open about it. She never wondered why until now.

"Could you tell us what all you know?" the Princess asked eagerly. "I mean, after you rest up, of course."

Sarah nodded, realising she wanted nothing more than to lay down curled up in Shiro's arms. She leaned into him, closing her eyes and smiling sleepily. "Mmmm…cozy…."


	4. Chapter 4

The mission hadn't gone as planned, but it wasn't a complete failure. Pidge and Allura managed to make it back safely with the Galra intel they had gone in for. But Shiro had been overwhelmed and captured as he tried to give the others time to carry out the plan. The Galra commander made the mistake of broadcasting Shiro's pain as a way to get his team mates to turn themselves over. Sarah wasn't having any of that.

"Go on, I'll catch up." she told Allura, heading for the bridge.

"Sarah, please, think about this, it's too dangerous." Allura insisted, gently trying to hold her back. "Shiro wouldn't want you to."

Sarah smiled slightly and patted the Altean's hand before removing it from her shoulder. "That's irrelevant right now. I can handle this. Just have a medpod ready, yea?"

Allura hesitated but nodded. There really was no talking Sarah out of whatever it is she intended to do. That would just lead to pointless arguing and become a waste of precious time. "Be careful." she murmured before hurrying off to escape.

Upon reaching the door to the bridge, where the top officers of the ship would be and where they had declared they were holding Shiro, Sarah closed her eyes and focused on seeing the room behind the closed door. Using her own life energy to see everything with the universe's quintessence, she reached out to the Galra robots scattered throughout the room and pictured herself crushing them one by one, as her mother had taught her. On the other side, she heard metal crunching and knew her white magic was working.

Manipulating quintessence was quite similar to manipulating an extension of one's self, in that it very much was. Sarah had been taught in the ways of white magic, which teaches that the universe's quintessence is a part of every thing, living or not, and by extending yourself with your own life energy, you could manipulate the pull and flow of the universe's energy without causing irreversible destruction. Sarah had generally refrained from using this ability, as she had a tendency to overdue it and drain her life energy far too much. But she had been making more and more allowances recently, and she knew a night or two in a medpod would return her to perfect health.

Upon hearing the commotion inside, she opened her eyes and forced the doors open. There were three Galra officers, staring dumbfounded at their crumpled robots and the small human girl who had burst into their control room. Shiro was in the middle, hunched over and panting heavily. Sarah narrowed her eyes at the Galra officers. "Who hurt him?" she asked darkly. The Galra didn't responded, still slightly dumbstruck. Half a heartbeat later they had recovered and were charging. Sarah rose them into the air, ignoring the pain as her body began to protest the overuse of it's energy, and flung them down the hall she had just come from. Breathing heavily and shaking slightly, she ripped part of the hall's walls from their place and dropped them on the fallen soldiers.

Content they were down for the count, she rushed over to Shiro, falling to her hands and knees as her strength dwindled rapidly. "Shiro….are you…ok…?" Sarah asked, using the small bit of strength she could muster to slash through his restraints.

"I'll be fine, but what are you doing? I told you to go and don't look back." he chided. The rest of his words were lost as her vision grew fuzzy and then went dark.

Next thing she knew, she was waking up inside a medpod back in the castle. It was very disorienting, but it was better than the alternative, and someone was generally always there to help out. Shiro caught her before she could take a wobbly step and eased her down to sit on the steps. It was then that she noticed they were alone and Shiro seemed tense. "Um…is something wrong?" she asked, confused.

Shiro was quiet a moment, and when he spoke it sounded as though he had prepared very carefully, paying close attention to the specific words and the way he said them. "I don't think you should come on missions anymore. You don't follow orders, and put everyone else at risk."

Sarah cut him off. "Yeah, I can agree with the orders thing, cause I'm not gonna leave you to die, but I'm very careful to not put anyone at risk besides myself."

"But that's the thing, I don't want you to have to put yourself at risk ever."

"Well, that's just something we'll have to live with."

"Sarah, it's often unnecessary risk. You don't need to overexert yourself like that, you know what kind of toll white magic has on you. You should be hesitant to use it, but again and again you are willing to severely hurt yourself when that isn't at all necessary."

"Again and again? It's been like two or three times, I think I'm ok."

"Everyone of those times you end up putting yourself out of commission."

"Well, I mean, that's a side effect-"

"And that can put others at risk-"

"In my defense I do only use it as a last resort."

"You can't always know that, though."

Sarah fell silent,avoiding his gaze. After a moment, she asked, in a hushed tone, "What do you want from me, Shiro? Do you want me to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs while you go risk your life? You can't stand to let me risk my life, but I'm just supposed to be ok with you risking yours?"

Shiro rested his head in his hands. "This isn't easy." he sighed.

Sarah gave a strained chuckle. "You got that right." She leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Maybe…is it possible for you to learn to better conserve your energy? I don't know how….quintessence works…" he suggested.

Sarah thought over her lessons with her parents. "I don't know…but I could look into it. There's bound to be something out there."

Shiro shifted so he could wrap his arm around her. "It'd help me sleep a little better." She could tell he was smiling as he kissed her head, and that made her smile, too.


	5. Chapter 5

"….and thats how detectable gravity waves are created, according to theory." Sarah finished. She had completely geeked out at Lance's earlier off the cuff comment that was not supposed to be based in science fact in any way; but Sarah being Sarah, had read about it previously. "Isn't that insane?" she asked, looking to Shiro, who had listened to her science ramble patiently and attentively.

"It really is. It's really hard to wrap your mind around just how big things in the universe are."

"It trips me out all the time." she said, laughing. She paused for a second, looking over the holographic handheld she had used to pull up tidbits supporting her claim. Then she jumped up and down excitedly. "I love science! I love space! It's so cool!"

Shiro laughed; he loved seeing her excited over her interests. Sarah really lit up when she talked about that which fascinated her, and he treasured every minute of it. Though they were at war, she managed to find a way to stay upbeat and optimistic, and Shiro would do anything to keep someone from taking that away.

Lance peeked in from the doorway. "Is she done yet?" he asked teasingly.

"Lance, you butt." Sarah said, sticking her tongue out at him. "I could give an encore if you like."

"No, no, no, that won't be necessary." he said chuckling. Turning to Shiro, "Pidge and Allura are back."

"Oh, good." Shiro sighed with relief. He hated recon missions where he couldn't oversee the safety of his crew, but he had been needed elsewhere and Pidge and Allura were perfectly capable taking care of themselves.

The three headed down to greet them, joining Hunk and Coran as they went. They reached the small ship just as Pidge and Allura were exiting. "Did you get the prisoner intel?" Shiro asked. Though it was a small matter in the grand scheme of things, he and Pidge had been desperate for any information concerning Dr. Holt and Matt, and when the ship intercepted Galra transmissions, it gave them a very big lead. They managed to decipher that it was a message about prisoner transfer and Pidge calculated its origin. One undercover trip later, they had a prisoner roster and and a prisoner transfer timetable.

The apprehension on their face did not escape Shiro's notice. "What's wrong?" he asked, bracing himself.

To everyone's surprise, Allura turned to Sarah. "What's your sister's name?"

"Um….Kayla…." Sarah answered, confused.

Pidge and Allura exchanged looks. "We found Pidge's family's location, but we don't have the coordinates-"

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Keith interrupted, only just joining the group. "A starting point?"

Pidge fiddled with her hem as Allura plowed on. "We found they had another human, who was being transferred to Zarkon's home base. the name was…Kayla…" Allura said slowly. "And there was an annotation next to her name…"

Pidge picked up where Allura trailed off.

"White Witch."


	6. Chapter 6

It felt as though her heart had stopped. Time froze, and she fell into darkness, the others slipping far away, their voices distant. Somehow, she registered that she was still standing, but Sarah felt like she was floating in an abyss. Zarkon had her sister. And he knew that it was her sister. A thousand thoughts flew through her mind. I should've sought her out, I should've contacted her….But there was no point in dwelling on what she should have done. As she switched gears, a small flame lit up, flickering and dancing in the darkness. Soon, it grew into a bonfire. Anger. Fury. Hatred. Her hands tightened into fists, and she felt herself return to the present.

Shiro was in front of her, his hands on her shoulder, and Allura was behind him. Sarah knew they were both talking, but it took her a few seconds to break free of the dark, muted world she had fallen into.

"….and we'll do everything we can, just like how we're going to get Pidge's family, we'll get Kayla, she'll be ok." Shiro was saying, confident and strong and determined.

"We can go in, just a small team, your ship can pass Zarkon's defenses easily enough." Allura said firmly, as if it was a sure win.

"No." Sarah cut in, monotone. "No, I know what needs to be done." Shiro and Allura looked at each other, confused and worried, as Sarah turned on her heel and walked to her ship. The Black Paladin and the Princess hastened to follow, but she paid no mind. "Hunk, can you get me a map with all the planets we've freed and Galra bases we've taken down?"

"Uh…" Hunk hesitated, not sure what was going on. No one was, really. "Yea…sure thing."

"Pidge," Sarah said as Hunk hurried off. "I need a map of the known Galra bases and supply routes, the ones we haven't taken yet, can you get that for me?"

"Yea, give me a sec." the Green Paladin replied, already at work.

Sarah reached her ship's open hatch, entering it and walking up to her super computer. She pulled up her database and had it do a specific keyword search on all things Galra.

"Ok," Pidge said, walking up the hatch ramp. "I got Hunk's map, and mine, where do you need it?"

Sarah pointed to her computers free ports; Pidge understood and plugged the data chips in. Sarah pulled the maps up, overlayed them over one another, and made it larger. "And Zarkon's base is here…." she murmured to herself, adding a point to the map. "So we have most of this area….Allura," she turned to the Princess. "Would you happen to know which planets would have a functioning or budding military?"

Allura frowned, confusion etched in her face. "Um…not exactly off the top of my head, but I can make some calls…" Sarah nodded and returned to her screen, making notes here and there. After a moment, she heard Allura and Pidge leave, and Shiro closed the back hatch.

"Sarah…." he began slowly. He gently grabbed one of her hands and eased her around towards him. "Tell me what's going on in your head."

She looked up at him and felt tears roll down her face; she didn't even realise she had been crying. She took a deep breath to steady herself. "I'm planning an assault on Zarkon." she said matter-of-factly, though her voice wavered slightly from her crying. His thick brows furrowed in concern. Before he could speak, she went on. "If we cut off the rest of his supply lines, the heart will be weakened. If we can gather up an army of our own, they can distract Zarkon's armada, leaving Voltron free to take him head on."

Shiro blinked, surprised. "That's….a fairly sound strategy…But what about Hagger and the Druids?"

Sarah smiled sheepishly. "That's where I come in."

"No way, no, you are not going in there to face them." he said at once.

Sarah placed her hands on his cheeks and looked him steadily in his dark eyes. "I'm going in to get my sister. And we'll take the dark witches out together." She rose on her toes to gently kiss him; he wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, as if he was afraid to let go. "I know you don't like it. But it's not like we know anyone else who can manipulate quintessence. With any luck we'll draw off all the Druids and Hagger and Zarkon will be alone."

"But…what if Hagger…what she's too powerful?" he asked, a sliver of worry slipping into his voice.

"Oh, I don't intend to let Hagger get the best of me." she said with a slight chuckle. "She owes quite a hefty debt for what she's done."

"What do you mean?"

Sarah looked into his eyes more intensely than before. "I'm going to make her pay for everything she did to you. Zarkon is Voltron's fight. Hagger is mine." she said darkly. Gone was the upbeat, optimistic girl who got excited over science trivia, at least for now. She had a mission now. She was going to help bring down the Galra empire if it killed her.


	7. Chapter 7

"I don't really know what to do, Allura." Shiro said, resting his chin on his interlocked hands.

Allura smiled understandingly. "Can you not just tell her plainly?" she asked. It had been late when the Black Paladin came to her for counsel. She had set aside the documents she pulled earlier, which had quickly become scattered across the dining table, but neatness was not priority right now.

Shiro thought for a moment, then shook his head. "It might strengthen her resolve."

Allura nodded. Sarah could be quite stubborn when she set her mind to something. The Princess herself had tried on several occasions to talk the small human out of something, only to waste more time than they had. "Why don't you tell me…and maybe we can think of a way to phrase it differently?" she suggested with a shrug.

He nodded. "She's….she's so intent on killing Haggar and the druids…because of…." he trailed off, looking at his Galra arm. "I just don't know…..it's not a simple thing, killing someone. I don't know how many….when I was in the arena…" He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself; talking about his year in Galra custody wasn't easy and it was not something he liked to do. "I don't want her to have that on her conscience. Even if it is Haggar."

"Hmmm…" Allura murmured, thinking. They had to somehow frame it in such a way that would convince Sarah to not pursue her revenge. "Have you asked her why she wants to?"

"Besides the obvious?" Shiro shakily chuckled. Sarah's main motivation was what the black witches had subjected him to. It wasn't something they regularly talked about, as it was hard for both of them. He hated reliving it, and Sarah would become emotionally distressed picturing it. "No, I haven't directly asked her."

Allura placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "That might be a good place to start. And then…." she paused, thinking. "Maybe….maybe say Haggar isn't worth it. Like you said, killing isn't…" she trailed off.

"I suppose it's worth a shot." he said, standing up. "Thanks, I'll let you know how things turn out."

"Good luck." Allura said, pulling the documents back to her. "You will probably need it." she added under her breath as he left the room.


	8. Chapter 8

Shiro found Sarah in her ship on her computer. Though it was rather late, she often didn't go to sleep until long after everyone else had. When on a planet, she could be considered nocturnal, but out in space time didn't feel the same. There wasn't a sun or a moon or really anything to mark the passage of the day.

He knocked gently on the ship wall to announce his presence. "Hey. What are you up to?"

"I'm reading up on quantum mechanics. I'm a little rusty." she said, scrolling through a text-heavy page. "You're up rather late, aren't you?" Sarah asked, pausing to look at him as he came to sit on the floor next to her.

"Yea….Sarah…" he began slowly. His eyes scanned her face carefully as he asked his question. "Why do you want to take on Haggar?"

Sarah hesitated a moment before turning her screen off and turning in her seat to face him. She didn't look at him though; instead she fiddled with the hem of her skirt. "Well…." she began. "um…." Shiro reached up and took one her hands in his. When she looked up to meet his gaze, he nodded, encouraging her to go on. "I…..I couldn't be there for you that year….and….it was all just….so unforgivable…..and I can't take it away, I can't do anything…" Her voice wavered as tears welled up in her eyes.

Shiro gently pulled her into his lap, hugging her close. "It's ok. It's ok. We hadn't even met then, we can't change that."

"I know that…logically I know that…." she said, her voice muffled as she buried her face in his shoulder. "But she hurt you. So much. And there's nothing I can do to take that pain away." Sarah sobbed.

His arms tightened around her. "I know that. I understand that. I would never expect that of you."

"But I can't live with not doing anything about it. And the only thing I can think to do…is take out those that hurt you…." she said softly.

Shiro didn't really know what to say. He didn't want her to be so distressed over something neither of them could change, but he couldn't think of any alternative course of action that might alleviate her need to act. "We'll think on this….together." he said, gently stroking her hair. "I don't want you to have to kill anybody, even if its Haggar. We'll figure something out." Sarah didn't say anything, but nodded into his shoulder.


	9. Chapter 9

Sarah had slapped him. Shiro rubbed his his cheek, staring at her in utter disbelief. Sarah wouldn't harm a fly. He couldn't even remember her playfully hitting anyone. "Wha….what…?" he asked, stuttering slightly as he was still in shock. Him, Allura, and Sarah hadn't moved since the latter had angrily stomped into the lounge room and slapped him.

"Takashi Shirogane I don't want to hear you talk like that ever again." the small girl said angrily, her hands now clenched into fists. "I forbid it!"

Shiro had never seen this Sarah before. She wasn't controlling and he couldn't even remember the last time she was angry. But he understood now why she was so upset. Just before she stormed in, he was discussing contingency plans with Allura if anything were to happen to him. He didn't want his team to be at a complete loss if he didn't come back from a mission. "Sarah…" he said soothingly, reaching for her hand; she pulled it away, still seething. "We were just talking hypothetical…we need to be prepared."

"I don't care. I don't care. I don't want to hear it." Tears began to spring from her eyes and run down her face, but she ignored them. It seemed she was determined to be angry. "I want you to take it back." Allura bit her lip and awkwardly left the room.

Shiro made to take her hands again. "Sarah, please…"

"No!" she yelled, violently pulling her hands away. "N-no…" She had begun sobbing and wiped away tears with the back of her hand. "I d-don't want you talking like that…" She sniffled and wiped away more tears.

He slowly reached for her; this time she didn't pull away. He gently tugged her into his lap, holding her close. "It's not like I can guarantee my safety all the time." he said, kissing her on the forehead. "We're at war, and it's dangerous."

Sarah took a few shaky breaths. "I know that….I know that…..It's just…It's not….something I think about."

Shiro sighed and rested his forehead against hers. "I'm part of a team….I have to think about it…..it's not fun." He paused, and for a moment the only sound was Sarah's sniffling. "I….I can just not talk about it around you…if that would help."

Sarah hesitated, then nodded. "I can't lose you." she said quietly, leaning into him and resting her head on his shoulder. "I love you…"

He pulled back to look her in the eyes. "Yea?" he asked, smiling. The small girl nodded, returning his smile. "I love you, too." he said, leaning in and kissing her.


	10. Chapter 10

"Sarah, I thought we discussed this." Shiro said, exasperated. He didn't know how to convince her that killing Haggar wasn't going to solve anything.

"You talked, I just kind of….nodded, sorta." Sarah said lightly as he landed the pod.

"In many cultures, that's viewed as a sign of agreement." Shiro said, sharply sarcastic. He realised it wasn't exactly the right time to have this discussion, but it had come up on the way to the planet and he just couldn't let it go. "I had hoped we had resolved this by now."

"You and me both." Sarah said stiffly, unbuckling her restraints and sliding her helmet on. Shiro sighed, exasperated, and followed suit.

The castle had received several distress beacons at once, causing the team to split up and aid the different planets in teams. Shiro thought it'd be nice to have alone time with with his girlfriend of almost eight months; he did not imagine they'd spend the time arguing. It was really quite odd for them to disagree to such an extent; both were very good at compromising. But there wasn't really a way to compromise over the issue at hand.

Once on the ground, Shiro led the way through the alien forest. He was relying on a tracking device focused on the distress ping, as it was night and there were no celestial bodies to provide any kind of light. "Stay close." he said firmly. The lack of visibility made him uneasy.

For a while, the only sound was the crunching of foliage beneath their feet. Shiro was focused on the mission at hand, but a part of his mind was trying to form a persuasive argument that would convince Sarah to not kill Haggar. He acknowledged thaat her heart was in the right place, but killing someone was not a simple task and especially not something to take lightly. He was determined to have her see that.

"What kind of aliens do you think live here?" Sarah asked, pulling him from his thoughts. According to the tracker they were getting close, but all he saw around them was darkness.

"Uh, I don't know. Would depend on the air and….how much light it gets from the nearest star…." he said absentmindedly. Something definitely didn't feel right, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Yea…can't really get readings on those right now…" she murmured mostly to herself. "I wonder-what is it?" Sarah asked as Shiro stopped abruptly.

"Something's not right. Tracker says its just about here, but there's nothing." He banged the tracker against his palm a few times, but nothing changed.

"Well maybe it's just-SHIRO LOOK OUT!" she screamed, pushing him forwards.

A large hand flew at them, catching Sarah and hurling her against a tree. "SARAH!" he yelled, running over to where she had fallen. The hand was gone; it wasn't until he had reached her and checking her pulse that he registered who it belonged to. "Sendak!" he hissed. Sarah was unresponsive but still breathing. He wished they hadn't split into such small teams; he needed to get her to safety and distract Sendak, but he couldn't do both. Looking around, he spotted the glow of the Galra's prosthetic arm through the trees; it was getting closer.

"Where are you, Paladin?" he called. It sounded as though he was alone but surely that wasn't so. Shiro set his jaw; he'd have to face Sendak and hope Sarah would wake up and go get help.

Standing up, he activated his arm and approached carefully, not wanting to get caught off guard.

"There you are." Sendak said, grinning maliciously as Shiro edged around a tree and laid eyes on the Galra soldier. "Looks like I got your little pet instead of you. Tell me, did I break her?"

Shiro roared and flung himself at Sendak. Both had activated their Galra prosthetics and were aiming for vitals; missing their target led to the trees around them becoming shredded. The Black Paladin was trying to guide the fight away from where Sarah was, with moderate success. They were inadvertently carving a wide path through the forest, cutting through foliage left and right. He was careful with his footing, but the sudden cliff still caught him by surprise. He only fell for a second, but it felt like a lifetime before he managed to grab a thick tree root.

Sendak looked down at him, laughing. "You're getting clumsy, Paladin!" he gloated. He turned away and began yelling orders; just as he had thought, Sendak was not alone. "Grab the girl, we'll take her with us."

"No! Sendak, don't you touch her!" Shiro yelled. He started climbing, losing his footing occasionally in his haste. As he pulled himself over the edge, he saw a Galra craft rise up out of the forest and shoot off into space. "No!" he yelled frantically, running back to the pod they had come in. Jumping into the craft, he got everything fired up and connected to the closest team. "Keith, you copy?"

"Yea, I copy, what's wrong?" Keith's voice crackled.

"Sendak has Sarah." Shiro said angrily as he took off.

"Sendak?! But-what are you gonna do?" the Red Paladin asked, sounding worried.

"I'm gonna kill him."


	11. Chapter 11

"Are you in position?" Allura asked Lance and Hunk, who were in their lion's flying towards Sendak's ship. She, Shiro, Keith, and Pidge were tucked away in the Green lion, invisible and approaching from behind. They had been in a similar set up before, back when they first found the lions. Sendak had Red and they snuck aboard to retrieve the lion. This time, they were retrieving a hostage.

It didn't take long for Shiro and the others to regroup in the castle and set after Sendak. Luckily, the Galra hadn't left the system and the crew managed to catch up to them quickly. They were reusing an old plan, but this time there would be no splitting up.

"Yea, we're out in front." Lance replied over the comms. "Tell us when."

"We're about to board." the Princess said as Pidge eased Green under the Galra ship. A few moments later, the four were running through Galra halls. "We're in, engage!"

In the distance the group heard blasts, and encountered trouble running as the entire ship shook. Shiro didn't let it slow him; though he stumbled, he launched himself from the ground, pushing himself to run faster. The others began having trouble keeping up, but he couldn't think about that. He was focused on the mission at hand: saving Sarah.

It was all he could do to not think about what Sendak might do to her; he just hoped they'd reach them before the Galra got a chance. Ever since Shiro lost her, he replayed everything that happened over and over in his mind, pinpointing each and every mistake he made, but focusing his anger and frustration on Sendak. With each replay, his loathing for the Galra soldier grew more and more intense.

"Should be right through here." Allura said, panting as she did her best to keep up. "Everyone remember-"

Sendak's voice cut her off, echoing through the ship. "I know you're there, Paladin. I have your prize right here….Would you like to say anything?"

The group froze. "Ya know," they heard Sarah say flatly. "I think I'd prefer to watch you rot in hell."

"You insolent little-" Sendak growled, drowned out by Sarah's pained screaming. The audio cut off abruptly, still echoing slightly.

Shiro roared in anger and frustration, punching a hole in the wall next to him. He began running again, faster, as her screams echoed in his head.

It wasn't long before they reached the bridge. The plan was to have Shiro and Keith keep the Galra occupied while Allura grabbed Sarah and Pidge covered their escape. But Shiro's mind was clouded by anger and hatred for Sendak. He wanted the Galra dead and he wanted to be the one to end him.


	12. Chapter 12

She was tired, and in pain, and all she wanted to do was sleep. But it was all Sarah could do to not close her eyes. Shiro and her friends were coming for her, and she didn't want to be dead weight. She was determined to not be useless.

"Why haven't you located them?" Sendak asked irritably.

"I don't know sir, the lions might have-" another Galra began.

"I don't want to hear it, I want to know where the Paladins are!"

Sendak was in the middle of the room, barking orders, when the large doors opened. In a blur of black and purple, Shiro attacking Sendak, Keith close by him taking down Galra bots.

Sarah pushed herself off the floor, which was difficult since her hands were cuffed behind her, but she managed to right herself just as Allura and Pidge reached her. "Are you ok?" the Princess asked as Pidge removed her cuffs.

"Yea, I mean….ow." she replied, letting Allura help her up; she hadn't realised how sore she was. "I would not recommend hitting a tree, that was not fun." She grimaced.

"Here…" Allura said, sweeping Sarah into her arms bridal style. The small girl blinked, but the Princess paid her no mind; it was time to go. Pidge made some kind of signal to Keith who nodded, and then the girls were out, sprinting down the hall.

Sarah peeked over Allura's shoulder. "Um…aren't they supposed to be following…?" she asked, confused.

"Never mind that, we need to get you out of here." Allura said, though she looked concerned. "Pidge, is Green ready?"

"Yup." Pidge said, moving ahead of them.

Sarah noticed she was beginning to drift in and out, as she started to lose the battle to keep her eyes open. She closed her eyes and when she next opened them they were inside Pidge's lion. "Just rest, Sarah." Allura was saying. It sounded like Pidge was yelling frantically over comms.

"Where's…?" Sarah began to ask.

"Shuush now, rest." the Princess reiterated, smiling. Sarah noted that her eyes were worried, but before she could ask, she passed out.

* * *

When she next opened her eyes, she was sprawled out in Shiro's bed, tangled up in her blanket. "Am I that crazy a sleeper what the hell…" she murmured groggily, feeling around for her glasses.

The door opened then, and a blurry person she recognised as Shiro entered. "I put them over here, hang on." he said, retrieving them for her.

When he handed them to her, she slid them on and tried to sit up as the world came in to focus. "Ok ow." she grunted, laying back down.

"Just rest." Shiro said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Sarah nodded. "Yup, that sounds like a good plan right now. Could I have my phone?" He smiled and passed her her omniphone; she got the feeling he had anticipated her wanting it first thing. She activated it and began browsing, like she usually did when she first woke up.

"So…." she began after a moment, as she remembered what all happened. "what uhm….what I miss?"

Shiro looked at his hands for a long moment before speaking. "Allura and I were….talking….I think…..I think I understand now."

"Understand what?"

"I understand why you….you want to take on Haggar."

Sarah blinked. "Oh."

He took a deep breath. "When Sendak took you….I got so…..angry. I was so afraid and felt helpless, like I couldn't…" he trailed off, at a loss for words.

"Shiro…" Sarah said, holding out her hand. She smiled when he took it.

"I won't try to dissuade you anymore. But I'd like it if you trained some." he said, squeezing her hand.

"I can live with that. C'mere." she said, tugging his hand. He lean over and they kissed briefly. "I love you, goof head."

Shiro chuckled. "And I you."


	13. Chapter 13

After a few hours, Sarah felt well enough to leave the bed and walk around. She and Shiro joined Allura in the lounge, who was perusing an encyclopedia the small human girl had lent her.

Setting the book aside, Allura scooched over and patted the couch next to her eagerly as Sarah approached. "It's good to see you up and about, and so soon!"

"I was getting bored." Sarah laughed as Shiro sat next to her.

"I told her she should rest some more." he said, mock-chastising her. She stuck her tongue out at him and he returned the gesture.

"Are you feeling ok at least?" Allura asked.

"Yea. I mean I'm still sore in places, but like….I just won't do any strenuous activities for a while." she answered with a shrug.

"Sarah was hoping you'd tell her what we talked about." Shiro said, lowering his voice. He wrapped his arm around Sarah's shoulders as the girl looked at Allura expectantly.

"Oh. Well." the Princess cleared her throat. "Did….Shiro tell you anything?"

"He said he talked with you and you helped him understand why I want to take out Haggar."

"Ah…yes. Well, you see, after Pidge and I got you out…..um…." Allura glanced uneasily at Shiro, who was avoiding her gaze. "Shiro was….determined to end Sendak then and there." she said hesitantly. Sarah felt Shiro tense up.

"I….I was afraid of what he might've done to you…or what he might do…..I don't think I've ever hated someone so much in my life. And it just…." he took a deep, shuddering breath. "It killed me that I couldn't be there for you. I know it wasn't quite possible, but still it killed me….and…."

"…And that mirrors how I feel…." Sarah finished, smiling understandingly. She wiped away a stray tear from his face; he trapped her hand against his cheek, leaning into it.

"He could have died." Keith said viciously from the doorway.

"Keith…" Shiro warned.

"He didn't use to risk his life so recklessly." the Red Paladin went on, not breaking eye contact with Sarah. "You're useless, all you do is get kidnapped and then Shiro has to risk it all to save you."

"Keith!" Allura said, standing up, her hands in angry fists. "That's uncalled for!"

Sarah narrowed her eyes and stood. "I need to be alone for a bit." she said dully. Before anyone could say another word she was outside the room. She hesitated there for a moment, and heard loud arguing from behind her.

Fighting back tears, she jogged to the nearest accessible air vent shaft and climbed in. Only she and Pidge could into the vents, so she figured she could count on a good deal of alone time. When she reached a corner she stopped crawling, rolled onto her side, and started crying. Everything Keith said had already been lurking in her mind since the very beginning. She had no fighting skills, she had no weapon, she could use magic but only in short bursts….She was a damsel in distress waiting to happen. And it already happened, twice. The only thing of value she could provide the team was her computer, and Pidge could easily replace her there.

Sarah took a few shuddering breaths, trying to calm herself down. She didn't like crying in front of people, preferring to cry herself out alone. She began trying to think of ways she wasn't useless, to prove Keith and her doubts wrong. All she could think of were things related to her computer. Then it came to her.

"Thats it." she whispered to herself, rolling back to her hands and knees. She crawled through the vents until she reached the hanger her ship was in. Gently dislodging the vent screen, she slipped out and ran inside to her computer. Her body felt a great deal more sore, but she ignored it. Pulling up the screen, she compiled the data she had been collecting for months into one map. Checking her box for any words from her various contacts, she saw she had a new message. When she opened it, all it said was "save this". They had sent a video. Opening it, she watched in terror as what was clearly Zarkon's central base hovered around a planet, draining its quintessence. An entire planet in one go. The video ended with warning lights flashing. Frantically, she messaged contact, hoping they'd reply quickly, as they were generally good about that. But they didn't. She didn't want to think what might've happened to them.

Adding the video to the map, she copied everything to a holodrive and left her ship, heading to the castle's control room.

Shiro, Keith, Allura, and Pidge were gathered inside. Shiro and Keith were still arguing. Allura seemed exasperated and Pidge looked like they were trying to make some modifications but glared at Keith on occasion. Sarah walked over to Pidge. "Hey, could you load this?" she asked, holding out her holodrive.

"Sure." Pidge replied, raising an eyebrow.

Sarah moved to the center of the room as Pidge launched her map. Shiro and Keith had stopped arguing and were watching the small humans, confused.

Pidge flashed her a thumbs up and she nodded. Catching Keith's eye, hers narrowed. "Who's useless now, bitch?" she spat, motioning for her map to expand, taking up the entire room. "The planets marked in red are all the planets that have been reported as becoming suddenly dead and barren within the last year." she began, walking around the room. "The flashing white line represents Zarkon's movements in the same period of time. It's not completely accurate because no one wants to get too close to him. But the margin of error is irrelevant at this point."

"Why do you say that?" Keith asked bitterly.

As an answer, Sarah pulled up the video. Everyone watched in horror as an entire planet was drained of its quintessence by Zarkon's ship. When the video ended, she minimised it. "I've been tracking the reports of dead planets for the past year, part of an online group trying out find out what's happening. I didn't make the Zarkon connection until more recently, but I didn't know what was going on…..so I didn't tell anyone…" she said sheepishly. "I didn't want to alarm anyone if there was no cause for it…..but I just got that video…."

"You think….Zarkon is robbing planets of quintessence?" Allura asked, eyes wide and frightened.

Shiro approached her and grabbed her hands. "Sarah….who sent you the video?"

"A…friend….I….I don't think they…" she said haltingly. Shiro nodded grimly and pulled her into a hug.

"Do you think Zarkon might've traced the video here? If they got to….your contact?" Keith asked, staring at the map.

"Not possible." Sarah said matter of factually. Keith looked at her skeptically. "I've been keeping an eye on Galra movements for years. I've taken the necessary precautions. They can't track any signal in my network cause it bounces around all over. It confuses trackers."

"You never told us that." Allura said, a question in her tone.

Sarah blushed, sheepish. "It's nothing major…I can't pinpoint anything. It mostly started cause….my home, Zarkon hasn't reached it. It's been a free system for over a thousand years. Some of us realised it could only last so long so….some people started tracking Galra movements and putting them up online and…" she shrugged.

"Guess you aren't completely useless." Keith said in a low voice, leaving the control room. Sarah smirked triumphantly.


	14. Chapter 14

"Wait…" Pidge said, as Sarah was about to return to her ship. "We need to talk to both of you."

"We?" Allura asked, confused.

Pidge nodded. "Keith is right about one thing." The Green Paladin held up their hand when Shiro began to speak, quieting him. "You were reckless. You both get that way when something happens to the other. You need to realise you're part of a team. Whether you like it or not…" Pidge looked at Sarah intently. "You are part of a team."

It occurred to Sarah that she hadn't really thought of herself as part of the team. Even though she had helped out on missions, she just saw herself as an extra, but not a member. Though they were being reprimanded, she felt a happy cloud form within her.

Shiro sighed. "Yea…we definitely need to work on some things."

Allura nodded. "Perhaps, we can train Sarah in hand to hand combat? Amongst other things?" she suggested, looking hopefully to the small human girl.

"Sure." she shrugged. "Can't hurt. And I've been looking into White Magic, there's not a whole lot out there, but there is a way to better conserve energy."

"If you need any help, i can look through the castle. There's bound to be something here, even if I haven't seen it." the Princess said, beaming.

"Oh, yay!" Sarah said, clapping excitedly.

"But first…" Shiro said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's figure some things out among ourselves, yea?" he asked, steering Sarah out the door.

A few moments later they were sitting on Shiro's bed, facing each other. "Where'd you wanna start?" Sarah asked, hugging her teddy bear.

"Honestly I'm not sure….Pidge has a point. I'm the Black Paladin, head of Voltron. I should know better….Not to say any of it's your fault!" he added hastily. "You've saved my life more times than I can count." Sarah smiled, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "I've never really been in a serious relationship before, so…." he trailed off, lowering his gaze to the floor.

Sarah chuckled. "You and me both. I was always either on my computer or reading a book. That didn't leave much time for dating."

He smiled. "We….we should probably stop lone-wolfing it…when it comes to um…us." he said awkwardly. Sarah nodded, her eyes downcast and unfocused as she absentmindedly played with her skirt. "And….maybe if one of us gets captured….we don't jump the gun and set off on a reckless rescue mission."

He watched her face carefully, but she could easily keep her expression blank when she wanted. She knew he was watching for any little thing, and she needed to work a few things out before she could address how she felt.

"I think I can do that." she said softly after a moment. "I can be a team player. Can't say I'll like it all that much. But it needs to be…."

Shiro reached over and took her hand, squeezing it. "It doesn't mean we don't love each other. It just means we're being responsible." She looked up at him, smiling shyly. He returned her small smile and rose up onto his knees, leaning over and cradling her face with his human hand. "We'll get through this, yea?" He chuckled when she nodded wordlessly, a slight blush spreading across her face, and closed the gap, kissing her. She draped one of her arms around his neck, still holding the bear. "Could we set the bear aside for now?" he asked, breaking away.

Sarah mock pouted. "Fine." she said, gently setting the pink bear on the floor. She giggled as they quickly resumed their activity, falling back on the bed.


	15. Chapter 15

Sarah and Allura were sitting at the long dining table, surrounded by papers, maps, and holodrives.

"Well, the Alrussians are a no go." Allura sighed, making a note.

"If they're anything like how you guys described, I'm not all that surprised." Sarah said, adding the paper she was writing on to a stack to her left.

Allura had stayed true to her word and contacted as many of the planets they had saved as she could. Unfortunately, very few had any kind of standing army, and those that did were hesitant to join the fight against Zarkon. Sarah's master plan wasn't panning out quite as she had hoped.

"We need some serious numbers if this s going to work." she groaned, laying her head on the table. Allura nodded, looking over a map of the quadrant they were in.

"We are getting pretty desperate." the Altean said wearily.

Desperate is right, Sarah thought. Reminds me of….Her train of thought began to veer wildly off course, moving from a childhood memory, to a movie she used to watch a lot, to the time she was bullied at the alien school, which brought up- "Oh." she murmured, eyes focusing back to the present.

"What is it?" Allura asked, moving some papers to the side.

"Um…" Sarah hesitated, sitting up straight. She was generally reluctant to talk about him, but desperate times….

"Something up?" Shiro asked, entering the room. He was still in his Paladin armour, having only just returned from answering a distress call. He slipped his helmet off and sat next to Sarah.

"Sarah and I were just talking about how we're getting kind of desperate, with this part of her plan." Allura answered, interlocking her fingers and resting her chin in them as she looked expectantly at Sarah. "So…?"

Sarah busied herself with a stack of papers, making them neat and flush, as she tried to think of how to begin. "Have you heard of Vaynov?"

Allura shook her head, but, surprisingly, Shiro spoke up. "Yea, it's like the headquarters of some crime syndicate….nexon? Nebula? I can't remember…"

"It's Nitro." Sarah said softly. "The largest crime syndicate in the universe."

"What does a criminal organisation have to do with anything?" Allura asked skeptically.

Sarah took a deep breath. "Don't judge me….my older brother….he's the head boss of Nitro." she said, avoiding their gaze.

"What? Really?" Shiro asked, surprised, turning his seat to face her.

"I still don't see what it has to do with our problem." Allura said, growing impatient.

"He has numbers. Krisox united fourteen separate crime organisations under one banner." Sarah said, nervously glancing at them.

"And you want to ask him to help us?" Shiro filled in uncertainly. Sarah nodded.  
"Why haven't you brought him up before?"

"Well…..he kind of….left the family. And I don't think we've really talked much since, he never much liked me to begin with and I can't say I cared for him." she said, shrugging.

"What makes you think he'll help us then?" Allura asked, confused.

"Zarkon has Kayla." Sarah replied simply. "Everybody loves Kayla. If I tell him that….he'll join us, I'm sure."

Allura sighed, looking at the papers scattered around them. They desperately needed some kind of army. "We don't really have much choice, do we?" she asked bleakly. Sarah shook her head. "Well, how do we get there? When should we go?"

Sarah blinked. "Um…we…what?" she asked, confused.

"Did you intend to go alone?" Allura asked incredulously.

"Well, I mean…yea….its dangerous…."

"Which is why you aren't going alone." Shiro said firmly.

Sarah looked between the two of them and sighed. "Fine….But we'll all need disguises of some sort."

* * *

Three hours later and Sarah, Shiro, Allura, Keith, and Lance were gathered around Sarah's ship, getting ready to go to Vaynov. Sarah hadn't wanted anyone to go with her, and especially didn't want a team of four with her, but didn't feel like arguing and so went along with it. She made it very clear that Allura could not look Altean at all, and Keith and Lance were to wear hooded cloaks and hide their faces as much as possible. For Shiro, the best disguise would unfortunately bring back severely upsetting memories.

"You want him to dress up like a Galra prisoner?!" Keith yelled.

"I'm….I'm just saying…..his arm is very clearly Galra…..he wouldn't be the only….we can find something else…." she stammered, upset. She hated suggesting it, she hated that it reminded Shiro of his time as a Galra captive. But it was the best disguise.

"Hey, look, I'll do it ok? If Sarah says its the way to go, then it must be. This is her mission and she knows the lay of the land." Shiro said, taking the purple cloth from her. She noticed his hands were shaking slightly.

"I'm sorry." she whimpered, hugging him.

"Its….its ok." he said, kissing her on the head. "What did you mean by 'not the only one'?"

Sarah pulled away, awkwardly fidgeting. "You….you weren't the first gladiator….to escape…." she murmured, avoiding his gaze, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Ready when you are, Sarah." came Allura's voice from a creature with green and yellow scales.

Sarah nodded, tossing a black poncho to Allura and pulling on her own old, dark cloak. Everything on Vaynov was dark, and it was imperative that they didn't stand out.

Allura gave Coran the designated signal over comms, and the team squeezed into Sarah's ship as the castle made a wormhole jump. The plan was to have the castle wait at the far edge of the Vaynov system, and they would make their approach in Sarah's small, but mostly undetectable, ship. They would be dropped off on the surface, and her ship would then orbit the planet. It was modified and programmed to return to her on command, and it was safest for it to be in orbit instead of on the ground. Sarah sat in the pilot chair and started her ship, that she called Darling, up so it was ready to go. Though she never turned around on the trip to Vaynov, she could feel Keith glaring at her, and she deeply regretted saying anything. It would have been much better if she could have gone alone.

* * *

As they entered the polluted atmosphere, Sarah gave more instructions for when they were on the ground. Allura was to be in the middle, flanked by Keith and Lance. Sarah would lead the way with Shiro beside her. She circled a shanty-town near what looked like a red light district, looking for a temporary landing platform. She spotted a large, flat roof on a decrepit building that looked on the verge of falling apart. After gently landing and opening the hatch, she input the previously programmed instructions and hopped out, just as her ship closed the hatch and took off for the upper atmosphere.

The team was silent as they reached the street. It was narrow and dirty and dark, the only light coming from what looked like neon signs a few blocks ahead. Eerie, silent eyes watched them go, but everyone kept their eyes downcast as Sarah had instructed. She had only been to Vaynov twice before, but remembered each visit vividly. The first time, she had accidentally snuck aboard Krisox's ship during a game of hide and seek. He was going to meet with some associate's and was furious when he found the small human girl cowering in the corner. Unwilling to leave her alone, he brought her with him, whispering instructions angrily the whole way. The second time, she and Kayla had come of their own volition to see their recently estranged brother. Sarah had disguised them well, and it took some convincing for the bouncer to let them in. Krisox was impressed they had come to see him and actually made it in one piece. As a precaution, he had their pictures taken and hung up, so they'd be recognised as untouchable, and he implanted a chip in both girls' right arm, something that would instantly identify them as his family. She rubbed her arm where the chip was nervously, hoping it still worked.

When the reached the lit up area, it became difficult to stay together. Sarah ordered them to hold hands and to not let go as she weaved through the crowd. Though she moved deftly between drunks, Shiro kept a firm grip on her hand. Soon, the crowd thinned out, and Sarah approached a dilapidated building with a red neon arrow pointing at the door. She knocked. After a second, someone slid open a small slot in the otherwise featureless door. Sarah held up her exposed right arm to it, smiling a little when she heard the machine ding.

When the door opened, she held up her hand, fingers spread wide, wordlessly telling the bouncer how many were in her party. The gruff alien nodded and waved them into the dark room. Once inside, they heard and felt music reverberating from deeper within the building. It was a very private club, or at least it pretended to be; Sarah knew Krisox lived and did business here. She led them through the dimly lit halls towards the back of the building. They passed two rooms that were full of people dancing to loud music. As the beat grew faint, they came upon another featureless door guarded by a bouncer. Sarah stopped in front of him.

"I'm here to see my brother." she said, removing her hood.

"Who is your brother, munchkin?" he asked, skeptical.

She was about to responded when a large female alien rushed over and shooed him away. "My apologies, miss, he is new." she said, opening the door.

Sarah simply nodded, and walked through. Inside, her brother was lounging with a few aliens of varying species and genders. She cleared her throat and he turned his large, muted red eyes to her and smiled devilishly.

"Sister, dear." he said after sending his consorts away. He rose and moved to stand in front of her, towering over her ever so slightly.  
"What brings you all the way out here? And with…" His eyes moved over the other four in her party. "…friends."

"I need your help with something." she said, trying to keep her voice neutral. She absolutely hated the way he was looking at her team.

"Really? From what I hear, you've fallen in a crowd that would give enough help for whatever your problem might be."

She glared at his orange scales, avoiding his eyes. "That's not really relevant right now."

"Oh I think I disagree. Yes, word on the street is you've become best buds with the Voltron Paladins and an Altaen princess." he said lightly, watching her closely. Her tightening her fist was enough of an answer. "So what could it possibly be that you had to come to me for help?" he asked smirking.

Sarah rose her glare to meet his gaze. "Zarkon has Kayla."

Krisox's arrogant demeanor fell. "Aw, shit. How'd that happen?"

"I don't really know."

"He probably has mom and dad too." he said, nonchalant as he turned and returned to his seat.

Sarah stared at him blankly. "Wha-? Where'd you get that from?"

"Well, see, I've actually kept frequent contact with our dear sister, and happen to know she was staying with them. And that was the last I heard." Krisox reached into a bin and grabbed a drink. "A week later, I heard through the grapevine that Zarkon finally broke through Stiea K2′s defenses."

"Oh…"

"Yea, that was kind of my reaction. Now…" he leaned over, resting his elbows on his legs. "What I'd like to know, is how you heard about Kayla, but not our parents."

Sarah grabbed for Shiro's hand, needing the reassuring pressure and warmth. He caught hers and squeezed it. "There were….prisoner transfer records we received that stated she was being moved….to Zarkon's central command." she said haltingly.

"And why would they do a thing like that?" her brother asked, his arrogance resurfacing. He was baiting her, she knew that in the back of her mind, but felt powerless and pressed on.

"I….kind of had a run in with Zarkon's head druid." she answered, mumbling at the end.

Krisox's red eyes grew wide and a nasty smile formed on his face. "You have been rambunctious, haven't you? I thought you were too afraid to use white magic."

"Circumstances change." she growled. "Will you help us or not?"

"Depends on what you need." he said airily, leaning back.

"We need an army. An armada. To take on Zarkon's forces."

"That really is a tall order. I'll see what I can do." He took a long swig from his bottle. "You're lucky Kayla is virtually worshiped around here." Sarah raised a questioning eyebrow. "She's visited pretty regularly, and always gives food and clothing to the bums. She's the patron saint of this area."

"Yea, that sounds like Kayla." Sarah said softly, smiling.

"So I presume you're done here?"

"Yes."

"Alright. You'll hear from me in a week. Leave out the back." he said, waving towards the door behind him.

Sarah marched out, muttering good bye as she passed Krisox. The team exited the building onto an empty alley. "We could probably get Darling on the roof…." she murmured, half to herself. She could feel the awkward tension between her and the group and wanted to ignore it for as long as possible. She led the way up the ladder, calling Darling with her omniphone as she did. By the time everyone was on the roof, her ship was lowering to them, the hatch opening. After they all climbed in, Sarah took it off the pre-programmed autopilot.

"Shiro…?" she started wearily. "Would you mind….?" Shiro nodded and took the controls. Sarah sat on the floor and wrapped her arms around her knees, closing her eyes. She just wanted to sleep forever. She hated talking to her brother, it generally always left her feeling emotionally drained and disgusting.


	16. Chapter 16

After Shiro safely returned the team to the castle and landed Sarah's craft in the the hanger, Sarah made a beeline for Shiro's room (which was partially hers, too). All she wanted to do was sleep, but when she reached the room and fell onto the bed, she found she could not quiet her mind. Groaning, she grabbed her pink teddy bear and held it close, turning to face the wall.

After a moment, the door opened, and a second later someone sat on the bed next to her. "Do…you wanna talk about?" Shiro asked uncertainly.

Sarah sighed and then pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Not really, but I suppose its warranted."

"You don't have to if you really don't want to."

"I should though." she said, giving him a small smile. She hugged her knees, trapping her bear between her legs and torso. It took her a moment to figure out where to start, as her mind felt like a tangled mess. Shiro waited patiently, swinging his legs up onto the bed and leaning against the wall opposite her. "When…we were rescued, mom and dad kind of threw everything they had into raising us. We were an alien species far from our home planet and they were learning as they went. I know they received grants from several institutes, to help raise us. They had to give yearly reports and pass it off as a case study, but I know they really loved us. I think….I think they thought Krisox would understand. They were paying closer attention to us because we had different needs. They weren't intentionally ignoring him. I don't know if they ever talked about it." She sighed, taking a brief pause. "He got the wrong idea and…kind of left the family…." she trailed off, leaning her forehead on her knees.

"Did they not try to reach out to him?"

"They did, but they like…couldn't. I don't remember exactly what was up. But he like totally vanished. It wasn't until he wrote to Kayla that any of us had an idea what happened. I remember mom and dad were so scared that he might have died…." She pulled her head up and rested her chin on her knees, looking him over with owlish eyes. "That was when Kayla and I went to Vaynov to see him. He was quite impressed. We were in huge trouble when we got home, we had stolen our parents ship and…"

"You guys went to Vaynov by yourself?" Shiro asked, alarmed. Sarah nodded, wordlessly. "Why? Didn't you know then what the planet was?"

"Yea. But Kayla was beside herself. She just wanted to see him and make sure he was ok. And I wasn't about to let her go there alone." She shrugged and Shiro nodded understandingly.

"That doesn't quite explain why you two were so…hostile."

Sarah rested her forehead on her knees again. "He never much liked me. Kayla's easy to like. She's an angel. I was quite and a nervous wreck most of the time. He didn't really stick around long enough for me to sort that out and get better."

"That's a pity," Shiro began, reaching for her hand. She looked up, eyes slightly wet. "You're a fantastic person." Sarah smiled, taking his hand and squeezing it.

"You're sweet." she said, relaxing. "I think I will try and sleep now…." she murmured, letting her head fall backwards onto the pillow.

"Ok. I'm gonna go do maintenance on Black." he said, sliding off the bed. He kissed her hand before heading for the door. "Sleep well. I'll try not to wake you later."

"Mmmhmmm.."Sarah mumbled, already drifting off.


	17. Chapter 17

"Hmmmm…." Sarah murmured, staring at the mess of books and maps on the floor in front of her. She and Allura had spent the past month going through all of the castle's resources for anything to do with magic. It was a nice palette cleanser, wiping away the nasty taste her brother always left. The girls had found a great deal, but most of it was in the form of legends or myths or children's tales. Sarah felt that they could find something concrete if they compared the various tales and cross referenced them with maps of various planets and systems. Allura sat across the pile from her, writing down notes as she reread one of the myth books. Sarah sighed, resting her face in her hands, her feet crossed in the air behind her.

"Something wrong?" Allura asked, not glancing up from her notes.

"I feel like we are very close, and its right in front of us but I'm just missing something obvious."

"What's right in front of us?" the Princess asked perplexed.

"I don't know….an answer, a location, an X on the map marking the spot….something, anything that would actually get us somewhere." She crossed her arms on the floor in front of her, resting her head and hiding her face; Sarah had started to feel her concentration slipping away, which was always frustrating when there was work to be done.

"Hey, wasn't there a child's tale that mentioned a mountain that glittered like a lot of jewels or something?" Allura asked.

Sarah looked up, resting her chin on her crossed arms. "Um….yes. I think there might have been a few variations of it, too. Why?"

"This passage mentions mountains like that. And I recall that book on peculiar planets said that there's a system of planets famous for their large quantities of precious gems."

Sarah furrowed her brow and pushed herself into a sitting position, thinking. "Wasn't that system like completely abandoned cause the environment is too hostile?"

"Yes, maybe…" the Altean said, searching through their mess for the book. "It's the first lead we have though. Aha!" She tugged the thick tome out from under a few map and set it in her lap, flipping through eagerly. "Yes, here….the Aywei system….said to be too inhospitable to even travel through, though this is based on eyewitness testimony only." She raised a curious brow, looking up at Sarah.

"Where is it located?" the small human asked excitedly, crawling around the sprawling mess to sit beside her.

Allura scanned the book with her finger. "Hm…It doesn't give anything concrete, but it says its near the Becreth Nebula. Yes, the Becreth Nebula and the….Avix Vortex? That doesn't sound safe."

Sarah shrugged. "So we don't go in the Vortex." Allura giggled. "Do you know where that Nebula is?"

"Vaguely. If we go to the control room I'm sure I could find it easily."

"Well lets go!" Sarah said excitedly, jumping to her feet.

* * *

"Yes, so here's the Nebula…" Allura said, moving the holographic map with her hands. "There doesn't seem to be a whole lot around it, I don't see a vortex or a system or anything."

Sarah stared at the empty space. "You think maybe the castle's maps are incomplete?"

"Maybe….I can't see how that'd be possible, but I suppose it is."

"Could be like in Star Wars, someone erased it. Or maybe it was just purposely….not put in the map?" she shrugged. "Wanna check it out regardless?"

"Check what out?" Shiro asked, entering the room.

"We might have a lead in the magic research!" Sarah said, hopping excitedly.

"That's great!"

"Its bizarre for it not to be in the castle's memory though." Allura murmured, troubled.

"What is it, a planet? A system?" he asked, hands on his hips as he looked at the map taking up the room.

"A system." Sarah said, moving to point out where it supposedly was. "Book said it was near this Nebula and a vortex. So it should be around here." She waved her hands in the prominent empty space. "But for some reason the castle isn't showing anything."

"Reminds of Star wars a bit." he chuckled.

"That's what I said!" the small girl said cheerfully, high-fiving him.

"I suppose its worth a look." Allura said, turning off the holo-map.

"Great, when do we leave?" Shiro asked, playfully poking Sarah.

"We? No no, this is a mission for Sarah and I. You are needed here, with your lion." the Princess said sternly.

Shiro's smile faded slightly. "But…I mean, are you sure?" he asked uneasily, looking to Sarah.

"Yea, we'll be fine." she said brightly. "We'll take Darling, she's a tank. Hey," Sarah said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. "We'll be ok. It's mostly just a recon mission anyway. There might actually be nothing there." She smiled as Shiro nodded, and rose to her tippy-toes to kiss him.

"Shall we get ready?" Allura asked, moving for the door.

"Yes, lets!" Sarah said, bounding excitedly after her.


	18. Chapter 18

"We're nearing the Nebula now." Sarah said from the pilot seat. They had been able to use a wormhole jump to get close, but as they weren't totally sure what they'd find, it had been a few hours away. "I guess its that mess right ahead of us?" she asked, lowering the opacity of the hud so they could see out the window better.

"Must be." Allura said from over the human girl's shoulder. "Its exactly where the map said it would be. Do you see a vortex of some sort?"

Sarah couldn't see anything with the naked eye, so she raised the opacity of the hud and analysed the radar. "Looks like there's something just past it. Readings are fuzzy for everything in between though."

"Well, lets check it out then. Could be that the interference from the nebula and the vortex masks the system from scanners."

Sarah nodded and pressed on carefully.

* * *

"Well, what'dya know? There is a hidden system." Sarah said brightly as a string of planets came into view on the scanner. "Now to find which one we can actually safely land on."

The girls stared in awe as they passed the first of the planets. The planet seemed to shimmer and glint like a precious jewel. It wasn't until they reached the third planet that Darling's scanners detected solid land and breathable air.

"That's lucky. Shall we?"

"Didn't you tell Shiro this was going to be recon only?" Allura asked skeptically.

"I said it would be mostly recon. I didn't say it was going to be all recon."

The Princess laughed. "Clever. I suppose we might as well, since we're already here."

* * *

Sarah landed Darling on a vibrant green plateau amidst a massive valley. When the girls disembarked, they took a moment to look around in awe. The mountains and sides of the valley were covered in lush green forest, with the exception of the mountains' peaks; the tops of the mountains gleamed in the sunlight like a million jewels. They were all different colours, and it seemed the entire mountain itself was one solid gem.

"Well, there's the gemstone mountains." Sarah said, placing her hands on her hips and turning to face Allura. "Now what?"

"I don't quite know. I suppose we explore." she said, shrugging.

"Sounds good to me!"

Using their jetpacks, the girls gently descended into the bright green forest on the valley floor. It seemed they arrived in the early morning, as they had several hours of light. The sun had just passed its apex when they decided to take a break and eat something. Allura passed a packet of travel food to Sarah before opening her own. As they ate, they commented on the flora and fauna of the gem planet, and marveled at the gemstones that peaked out of the ground beneath them.

Sarah was wondering about the core makeup of the planet as she looked around curiously when her eyes caught sight of something strange in the cliff face. "Hey, you see that over there? It's like…a cave opening. But there's decoration around it."

Allura followed her gaze, and her eyebrows rose, curious. "That doesn't look natural." she commented, as they both rose and started towards it.

It took them a bit to navigate through the under brush. When they reached the opening, they stared in awe for a moment. "This is huge." Sarah whispered; Allura nodded. They both pulled out their omniphones and turned on the devices' bright lights.

The path inside initially sloped straight downward, before easing into a spiral. The outside natural light reflected off the gemstone walls; it was quite a while before they lost it. Soon afterwards, the passage leveled out and opened into a huge chamber that resembled a cathedral. It was almost as if it was carved out of the giant blue-green gem mountain. Flora covered most of the floor and had begun crawling up the walls, reaching so high the girls lost sight of it in the inky black of the ceiling. They couldn't quite make anything out, which confused them; if this was made entirely out of gemstone, shouldn't the light reflect more and reveal the roof?

In the middle of the cavernous room stood a stone pedestal. Resting on it was what looked like a book as old as the universe. Sarah cautiously approached it. It felt like something was pulling her to to the tome. Allura didn't seem to notice, still looking around at the room at large. Sarah reached for the book and opened it gently.

Something massive deep within the earth shifted suddenly, causing the girls to fall over as the ground shook violently. "What was that?" Allura asked, alarmed. Almost as suddenly as it had come, it ceased. The pedestal's intricate carvings began to glow white. This spread until the entire roomed looked as though it had glowing veins running through it.

The girls got to their feet and huddled close together, not sure what was happening. They heard movement above them and looked to see dust trickle down. Something large above them unfurled itself and began climbing down the walls. As it came into view, Sarah gasped.

"A dragon?"


	19. Chapter 19

"Shouldn't we have heard back from them by now?" Shiro asked, pacing. It had been four days since Sarah and Allura had set off to find a system that may or may not exist. Everyday since, he would spend long hours in the control room, waiting for word from the girls. The night previous, Coran had to shoo him out; Shiro had started to doze off and didn't realise it. He didn't sleep well, and was back pacing in the control room early.

"I'm sure there's no reason to worry." Coran said, checking a few of the castle's readings. Shiro noticed there was a tightness in the Altean's face; he was worried too.

Both men turned as the door opened. "Still nothing?" Hunk asked, in between taking bites of fruit. Shiro shook his head. "I'm sure they're fine." the Yellow Paladin said, mouth slightly full. "Didn't they tell you where they were going?" he asked, after swallowing.

"They couldn't find the system on the maps, but said it was between the Becreth Nebula and some vortex." Shiro said, moving to pull the map up.

"Well why don't we just go there ourselves?" Hunk suggested, shrugging.

Shiro looked to Coran; he had suggested such a plan two days prior, but Coran said it would be too risky to use a wormhole to get the castle to unknown space. But now, the Altean sighed. "I suppose it couldn't hurt. But not too close, we don't know what's there or what we'd be warping into." Shiro nodded, slightly relieved; it felt good to at least do something, instead of just waiting around.

* * *

"So that must be the nebula," Coran said, watching the map tracking their location. They had made a wormhole jump a good distance away, as they didn't know what was around the nebula itself. "Looks like there's a great deal of interference there." Coran pointed to a fuzzy area just beyond.

"Might be where the system is." Pidge suggested, taking their own readings on their laptop.

"It's worth a look, but I don't know if the castle would-" Shiro started, before being interrupted by a beeping. The hud announced they were receiving a call from Darling. Coran quickly opened it, and Allura's face took up most of the hud.

"Hello everyone!" she said brightly, before turning to look over her shoulder. "Sarah, I've got them, they're within range."

"They came out here?" Sarah asked from off screen, puzzled.

"I guess so." Allura turned back to the screen. "Thought we were going have to fly Darling past the nebula to get a message to you."

"What did you find?" Shiro asked urgently. "Are you both ok?"

"Oh yes, we're fine. You wouldn't believe it if I told you….You'd really have to see it to be honest."

"Yea, tell 'em to come!" Sarah said excitedly, still off screen.

"What's Sarah doing?" Shiro asked, concerned now.

"She's…ah…." Allura looked over her shoulder. "Sarah what would you call it?"

"Uh….I think the closest thing would be studying."

"She's….studying, I suppose."

The Paladins and Coran looked at each other questioningly. "Studying?" Pidge asked after a moment.

"I mean, not exactly but….you'd have to be here, you'll understand if you can see it. Coran," the Princess said, her eyes moving to him. "Do you think you could maneuver the castle past the nebula? The Aywei system is right past it. I Think the nebula combined with….the planets' odd properties really mess with scanners and such. I'll send our location to you now." Coran nodded, and opened them when they popped up. "There's a large, green plateau in the middle of a valley, set the castle down there alright? See you all soon!"

"Allura, wait-" Shiro began, but the Princess had already disconnected.

"That was very…vague." Hunk said finally.

"Yea. Well, let's find out what they found!" Lance said, rubbing his hands together excitedly.

* * *

Just as Allura had said, there was a large, bright green plateau, big enough for them to land the castle on. A short distance away, close to the edge, was Darling. As the Paladins and Coran disembarked, Allura stepped out of Darling to greet them.

"Welcome!" she said, giggling, as she ran up and hugged Coran and then the others.

Shiro returned her smile but his eyes scanned the surrounding nervously. "Where's Sarah?"

"She's with Niruth, they'll be here in a second. Sarah insisted on a grand entrance." Allura answered, waving them over to Darling.

"Who's Niruth?" Keith asked as they followed the Princess.

"I'm not going to spoil their entrance." Allura said, laughing. "They should be here any second…"

For a brief second, all they could hear was the wind blowing through the trees. Pidge and Hunk were mesmerised by the landscape, and Lance couldn't stop staring in awe at the mountains. Then the sound of large wings moving through the air reached them. Before they knew it, a large, white dragon with feathery wings flew up, circled them, and then landed between the castle and Darling. As it folded its wings, a small form waved and then slid down.

Relieved, Shiro ran up to her, picking her up and swinging her around. "I was so worried, I thought you said it was just going to be recon?"

Sarah giggled, blushing slightly. "I said mostly recon. If there wasn't a system we would have just turned back. But since there was, I mean, we had to check things out!"

"You wanna explain uh….?" Lance asked, catching up to them.

"Oh, this is Niruth! She's a dragon! Earth may not have any, but at least they exist!" she said excitedly, taking Shiro by the hand and dragging him over to the white beast. "She's my mentor." he said, gently stroking the creature above the eyes.

"Uh…your mentor?"

"Yea, in White Magic. This system's planets channel the universe's quintessence like no other place in the universe. It's the best place to learn how to really become one with the universe and like…stuff…." she ended feebly, shrugging.

"So…she can talk?" Pidge asked curiously.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." an angelic voice said in their heads. Hunk and Lance gasped, Pidge mouthed "whoa", Keith's eyes widened, and Shiro stared at Niruth in disbelief.

"So, how did you uh….?" Pidge trailed off, unsure how to word their question.

"Sarah," Niruth said in everyone's heads as the small girl turned. "Tell them about the past few days. I'm going to swim in the lake." As she stood and spread her wings, everyone back away slightly. "Call me when you're done, and we may begin again." Sarah nodded and Niruth took off, flying past the valley edge and out of sight.

"Ok where to begin um….might wanna go into the castle and take a seat." she giggled nervously.


	20. Chapter 20

The Paladins, Allura, Coran, and Sarah gathered in the lounge, settling in for what could be a long story. Shiro sat close to Sarah, wrapping an arm around her midsection and holding her close as she thought about where to begin.

"I should probably preface by saying that time works….strangely here. The story might not make sense otherwise." she began.

"What do you mean?" Keith asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How many days has it been since we left?" Allura interjected.

"Um….four I think?"

"Yea, for us, its been a month." Sarah said plainly.

"How is that possible?" Pidge asked incredulously.

Sarah shrugged. "I mean, time works differently the smaller you get. And if you go like super fast. Or if you're paying extra close attention to the present moment. This whole system….there's enormous quantities of quintessence passing through the planets at any given moment. The concentration of it messes with scanners and our perception of time."

"Okay, you two have been here for….awhile." Shiro said, still rather confused. "Tell us what happened."

"Okay, I'll start with when we first got here…."

* * *

Sarah and Allura stared in awe as the dragon rose its head above them. "Who are you, and why have you disturbed the book?" the girls heard in their mind. They looked to each other, eyes wide, before Allura responded.

"We're looking for answers….I'm Princess Allura of Altea, and this is Sarah, she's a….a White Witch."

The dragon's eyes widened curiously. "And here I thought there were no more who practised White Magic. It has been a millennia since the last White Witch came here to study."

"So…." Sarah began tentatively. "This….I can…learn here?"

The dragon nodded. "You can learn to better harmonise with the universe. This would make a White Magic user more powerful, and they would be able to manage their usage of their own quintessence better."

Sarah sighed, relieved. "Oh so there is a way, that's great-"

"But before you learn, I must see if you are worthy of the teachings from the book."

"Um…" the small girl blinked. "Sure. What do I need to uh…do?"

A few hours later, Sarah was sitting on the floor of the cavernous room, facing the dragon, who had introduced herself as Niruth. The white, feathered dragon was curled around the pedestal, turning the pages of the ancient book carefully with her ivory claws. "The quintessence seems to flow around you rather fluidly. There isn't any sign of you using Dark Magic. I would see little pockets of entropy around you if that were the case."

Sarah nodded, eyes wide in wonder. Niruth had been examining her for what felt like an eternity, but she was still in awe of the fact that dragons existed and she was in the presence of one. The creature had said that examining her quintessence aura was only the first step in determining if Sarah was of worthy caliber for the ancient teaching. The small human hadn't bothered to inquire after the other steps, as she figured they'd reach them in good time.

"Okay. I am pleased with what I see here. Now I need to attest the extent of your prior training."

"Okay, uh, how do we do that?" Sarah asked, rising to her feet as Niruth rose to hers.

"You must open your mind to me. I will peruse your memories. This could be easy or it could be hard, it all depends on you."

"Just tell me what I need to do." she said brightly.

"Relax your mind." the white dragon said, approaching her. She stopped when her face was right in front of Sarah's, the dragon's pale blue eyes piercing into her stormy blue ones. "Close your eyes if it helps."

But Sarah didn't. She stared almost unblinking at the dragon, feeling herself relax in a way she never had before. It felt as if she were watching a movie of her life play at an insanely high speed. Before she knew it, Niruth broke away; Sarah gasped and fell backwards, holding her head as it began to ache.

"That will be enough for this day. Rest. We will pick back up when the light comes again." Niruth climbed up the gem walls, disappearing into the ceiling.

When Sarah reached the mouth of the cave, she saw the sun had sunk low in the sky. Allura had been lingering by the forest edge and ran up to her. "Are you okay? What all happened?"

As the girls returned to Darling, Sarah recounted what had transpired.

"That seems…good at least?" Allura said as they landed next to Sarah's craft and shut off their jetpacks.

"I'm hoping so!" Sarah said, yawning. "You can take the pull out bed if you want, I don't mind Darling's floor."

"No, you should use the bed, we don't know what kind of…training I suppose? Niruth might demand a lot. I'm perfectly fine with the floor." Allura assured her.  
Sarah was too tired to argue, and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Over the course of the next two weeks, Sarah spent her days in the gem cave with Niruth, always leaving precisely as the Sun was setting and returning the next day at first light. The dragon had insisted that Allura not be present for these sessions, so the Altean busied herself with studying the ecosystem and strange properties of the planet. It was quite the fascinating world. All the fauna she came across seemed to not mind her presence, and some had let the Princess approach them. The vivid green trees and brush were all edible and didn't taste half bad. Upon inquiry, Niruth informed them that the intense concentration of quintessence made the flora extremely nutritious; she had lived off the greenery alone her whole life. Even Sarah, who was a notoriously picky eater, enjoyed the green leaves of the trees and brush.

As the days wore on, Allura started to notice that Sarah was returning less and less drained; her sessions with the dragon seemed to be teaching her how to better conserve her energy. At the end of the second week, Niruth emerged from the cave with them, saying Sarah was ready for the next phase of teaching. Allura was permitted to be present, and was even encouraged to join in. The dragon, using the ancient book, explained the various stances and movements necessary to more effectively manipulate quintessence. Sarah compared it to yoga, a human exercise, and when she showed them pictures Niruth was impressed.

Though Allura did not have baseline knowledge on White Magic, her training alongside Sarah helped her to be more attuned with the energy of the universe. It was a very enlightening experience, and the girls practised meditating in their free time.

Soon after switching to the more physical teaching sessions, Sarah felt herself connect to the universe's energy in an indescribable way. She fully opened her mind to Niruth, who forged a mental link between the two. This allowed the dragon to let Sarah see the world the way she did, which in turn helped the human girl learn to more efficiently manipulate quintessence. When browsing the girl's memories once she saw Sarah's dancing, and was curious to watch it live. She thought the graceful movements would help push and pull the flow of energy, and she was right. After some time, Niruth allowed her to practically train in the use of White Magic, and Sarah and Allura were amazed at the results. The abundance of quintessence made for a spectacular display, and the girls were buzzing about it for days afterwards.

In between teaching sessions and sleeping, Niruth offered to fly the girls around the planet, that she called Leonia, showing them various ruins and old nesting grounds. She informed them that she was not the last dragon, but there were not many left. White Magic had fallen into obscurity soon after Black Magic was discovered, and many dragons were lost when they refused to teach the Dark Witches. In a last ditch effort to protect themselves and their secrets, the remaining dragons changed the flow of the universe's energy so that Dark Witches and other such practitioners of Black Magic could not approach the Aywei system. This inadvertently hid them from White Witches as well, and the gem planets fell into myth and legend.

* * *

Near the end of their first month on Leonia, Allura was in Darling trying to see if she could get a message to the castle. Sarah sat on the ground right outside the open hatch, meditating. She had connected her mind to Niruth, who was in the cavern reading the ancient book and conveying the information over their telepathic link.

"Hello everyone!" Allura said suddenly. "Sarah, I've got them, they're within range."

"They came out here?" Sarah asked puzzled, not opening her eyes; she didn't want to break the link.

"I guess so." Allura replied. "Thought we were going have to fly Darling past the nebula to get a message to you." she said, her voice quieter slightly; Sarah presumed she had turned back to the display.

She caught Shiro's voice speaking to Allura and felt a strong urge to open her eyes and go to see him; but her and Niruth were not done and so she resisted with great difficulty. She missed him dearly, but knew she needed to stay and learn to use White Magic better.

" ….You'd really have to see it to be honest."

"Yea, tell 'em to come!" Sarah said excitedly. She heard Shiro's voice again, and then Allura relayed his question.

"Uh….I think the closest thing would be studying."

"She's….studying, I suppose."

Allura rattled off instructions on how to reach them and then signed off. "They'll be here soon." she said, walking down Darling's hatch. "How much longer do you think you have?"

Sarah relayed the question and the news of their friends imminent arrival to Niruth, who decided to take an early break and pick up again after they had welcomed their friends. "Oh, but Niruth, do you think we could do something cool for when they get here?"

"What did you have in mind?"

* * *

"….And then we came inside and here we are!" Sarah finished brightly, looking around at everyone. Allura laughed at their awed expressions. "It's….quite a lot to take in, I suppose." the small girl added sheepishly.

"So…you've mentally connected with a dragon…." Hunk said uncertainly.

"Yes."

"Is it like, like us with the lions?"

Sarah blinked and tilted her head to the side, thinking. "Uh….I mean maybe a little….? Like Niruth could bond with any White Witch who she thought worthy of her tutelage. So maybe not….I really don't know, I'd have to ask."

"Do you have to stay here for much longer?" Shiro asked, slightly uneasy.

"Actually," Allura said as Sarah was about to speak. "I was going to ask if Niruth would mind coming with us, in the castle. That way we can still help planets and Sarah can still train and we don't have to split up. Do you think you could ask her tonight?" the Princess asked, turning to Sarah.

"Worth a shot." she said shrugging and smiling.


	21. Chapter 21

It took a little convincing for Niruth to agree to Allura's suggestion. She was confused when they tried explaining the Galra empire. "Zarkon? But I recall witches from two millennia ago discussing his conquest. Surely this cannot be the same Galra." She had to connect with Allura's mind and view the Altean's memories before she was convinced. It was then that she agreed to join them and stay in one of the castle hangers.

After the dragon settled in and the team set off (Darling safely stashed in the hanger with the lions), Niruth asked to be filled in as much as possible with everything that transpired over the past several millennia. She had come into existence after the dragons hid the Aywei system from the rest of the universe, and so had lived mostly in isolation. She mentioned how more recently the flow of quintessence had changed, something that hadn't happened before, but otherwise had no connection with the rest of the universe.

"When did you start to notice this change?" Sarah asked uneasily, sitting cross-legged in front of the white creature.

"About a year ago, I believe. It was very recently, I know that much."

"I'll uh…I'll have to show you…you wouldn't believe it otherwise…." the human girl said sadly. She pulled her omniphone out, browsing through its files. "You want to see through my eyes? Might be easier that way…." Niruth nodded, cautiously curious.

After Sarah shared the video of Zarkon draining a planet of its quintessence, she looked up o find her mentor's eyes wide, full of terror but also sad. "You're right…" she said after a moment. "I would not have believed you. His Dark Magic is too much, it is creating too much entropy….the flow of the universe's quintessence…." She paused, shaking her head and looking down. "I will do all I can to help you and your friends." she said softly after a moment. "The Aywei system can purify quintessence removing entropy, but this magnitude….it will never be the same again."

The two sat in a depressing silence for a while. "Um…" Sarah began awkwardly. "Hunk had a question…I told him that we mentally linked, and he asked if it was anything like the Paladins and their lions?"

Niruth tilted her head. "How do you mean?"

"Well like…the Paladins have a special bond with their particular lion….something about their quintessence I think….? Allura's better at explaining it."

"Hmm….Voltron was before my time….if only the Paladins can connect to their lions, then no, I don't believe so. I can make a mental link with any White Witch, as long as I deem them worthy."

Sarah nodded. "That's what I thought, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure, so I said I'd ask." She beamed proudly.

Niruth smiled affectionately. "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to study the lions' quintessence. See if I can connect and communicate with them."

"Sure!" Sarah said brightly, pushing herself to her feet. "I guess just give me a call if you need me."

The dragon closed her eyes as the small human skipped out. Niruth enjoyed Sarah's seemingly boundless optimism, especially during the dark times she found herself in.


	22. Chapter 22

"It'll be okay, we'll be okay." Shiro said, holding her tightly and stroking the back of her head.

Sarah tightened her grip around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. She knew he was trying to be brave for her, and as much as she wanted to keep it together for him, she couldn't fight the waves of anxiety and terror that left her a trembling mess.

The two were in a Galra prison cell in Zarkon's central command. Sarah was scared beyond belief and she knew Shiro was too, but he was very successful at hiding it. When they were brought in, both were de-weaponised; Shiro's arm was disabled to the point where it might as well be human, and Sarah was injected with a serum that heavily inhibited her White Magic. She couldn't think of a way out of their situation, and that made her all the more fearful.

Sarah turned as the cell door opened, one arm still around Shiro. He shifted to a defensive position in front of her as three sentries and a Galra officer entered. "Restrain him. Hagger wants the girl." he said.

Shiro moved so fast she could barely keep up; it didn't help that she felt like she was falling, like everything was unreal. Shiro moved fast but time seemed to drag by, until one of the sentries flung him against the side wall and he crumpled to the ground. "Shiro, no-!" she yelled, coming to the present. Her wide, fearful eyes found the Galra officer who was approaching her. Instinctively, she pressed herself against the wall, as if she could escape him. He signaled one of the sentries, who came to her side and roughly pulled her to her feet. The robot slapped hand cuffs on her and then tugged her out. Looking behind her she saw Shiro stirring. "He's ok…" she whispered to herself.

By the time he had reached his hands and knees, she was crossing the threshold. "Sarah!" he yelled, panicked. He made to stand up and run after her, but the Galra officer was ready and knocked the wind out of him. Shiro crumpled to the ground again, clutching his midsection.

"No, please, don't hurt him!" Sarah cried, fully turned around now but being forced to walk backwards by two sentries.

"Sarah…" she heard Shiro groan weakly as the other sentry and the officer closed the cell door behind them.

"Just-it'll be okay, yea?" she shouted down the hall; trying to be brave for him too little too late. The officer, frustrated by her slow progress, picked her up, draping her small form over his shoulder. She didn't want to think about where they were taking her.

When the officer's heavy footfalls stopped, they were in a small, dark room. She couldn't see much more than the floor from her position, but the Galra flipped her over onto a table roughly. "As you asked." he said to the darkness.

"Thank you…" A dark voice slithered out of the darkness. "You may go now." After the sentries and the officer left, Hagger partially emerged from the darkness. Sarah had never seen so much malice in a person's eyes. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

Sarah woke with a start, gasping for air. She violently rolled out of bed and onto the floor, falling on her hands and knees. "Sarah?" Shiro asked, concerned. She heard him slid out of bed and crouch next to her on the floor. "What is it, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"

Trembling, she didn't know how to answer at first. She didn't know if 'nightmare' was the right word. It had felt too real to be something as simple as that. "No…I….I don't…" she said haltingly, still staring at the floor.

Shiro gently cradled her face in his hands and brought her eyes to his. As they widened in concern and fear, she knew how she must have looked. Paler than ever, almost unblinking, wide, terrified eyes, and trembling; she was a mess. "What happened?" he asked, his voice soft but full of alarm.

"I-we….we were captured and….Hagger, she wanted…." she said as she began crying, reliving it. She couldn't bring herself to finish and so pointed at herself.

Shiro immediately scooped her up into a firm hug. "It's okay now, it's over. It was just a dream."

"No," she sobbed into his shoulder. "It was too real, it was all too real. I don't….it wasn't a nightmare…."

Shiro's arms tightened around her. "We can ask Niruth, she might know."

He began stroking her hair, and she had to repeat "we're safe, in the castle" in her mind to keep from falling part. "We're safe….right?"


	23. Chapter 23

Being unwilling to try and get back to sleep, Sarah and Shiro went to see Niruth in the hanger. The dragon raised her white, feathered curiously as they entered, but as her pupil came within range and their minds seamlessly connected, her expression became grave. "What you experienced was a premonition of a possible future." she said before either of them could speak. "It was not uncommon for a White Witch to be forewarned of danger through their night visions."

"So what do we do?" Shiro asked, wrapping a protective arm around Sarah's small shoulders.

"Unfortunately, right now there is nothing to do. The vision is not finished."

"There's more?" Sarah asked timidly, her eyes wide and fearful.

Niruth nodded solemnly. "Only when you reach its end will we be able to act. I'm afraid you have more uneasy nights ahead of you. How many and how often I cannot say." Sarah took a deep breath and nodded.

A sudden beeping from Darling made her and Shiro jump. Frowning, Sarah jogged over to the small craft, opening her entrance hatch. Inside, her computer screen was flashing. She sat down at her computer, relaxing slightly; she always felt most at home in her ship on her computer. The alert was informing her of an encrypted message from the Vaynov system. "Well this oughtta be interesting." she murmured.

"What is it?" Shiro asked from the hatch ramp.

"I'm about to find out." she said as Darling's supercomputer revealed the message's contents. As she had suspected, it was a message from her brother. "He's very late." she said to herself, reading his answer to her request. "Krisox says he and the lesser bosses are meeting at some big nightclub on Vaynov next week. Says he's going to pass on my request then, but only if Allura and I go. And…" She tilted her head, confused. "only me and Allura. Wonder why…."

Shiro crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. "Well Allura is a princess. That's got to have some clout, even if Altea is gone." Sarah nodded, rereading the message. "Regardless, you two aren't going alone."

"Mmm, I agree, that's really fishy. But," she shrugged. "it is Krisox."

"Forming a plan?"

"Yea. I'm thinking….a kind of undercover sort of thing. Like in some of those Earth movies. Hang on…" She furiously typed away, bringing up several pages and scanning them quickly. "Here we go." she said triumphantly. "Here's a satellite view of the night club and the surrounding area." Shiro went to stand behind her, leaning on the back of her chair and rest his chin on the top of her head. "So, we have two people undercover inside, we have someone, maybe two people on the rooftops here…" She pointed to each in turn before continuing on. "…that way we have eyes and ears in and out. And…" She turned in her chair, rising to her knees; he backed up slightly to give her space and not bump heads, as Sarah had a tendency to move and change position quickly and without warning. "Do you think we could find hidden mics? Like um….what are they called…"

"A wire?"

"Yes!" she said excitedly, snapping her fingers. "A wire. One for me and one for Allura. And then those little uh….hidden ear…thingies…." she trailed off, tapping her ear.

"I know what you mean." Shiro said, nodding, before tilting his head curiously. "Did you watch a lot of spy movies on Earth?"

"Well not a lot, but some….and it wasn't just earth, my parents found some James Bond flicks super randomly once, it was so cool."

Shiro laughed. "Sounds like it. So we might need everybody for this, yea?"

"Yea…" Sarah sighed, nodding. "I mean if someone wants to opt out I'm not gonna force them."

"Hey," he said, lowering himself until he was at eye level with her. "This isn't a side mission or a personal errand, this helps our cause. You don't need to feel bad about asking for help with this."

She smiled shyly. "Yea, I guess you're right."

Shiro returned her smile and gently kissed her. "C'mon, lets see if Pidge can make a wire and earbuds."

* * *

A week later, Sarah and Allura found themselves on Vaynov, getting ready to meet with Krisox in an abandoned, derelict building a few blocks from the nightclub. Shiro and Coran were finishing their disguises; they were going to situate themselves inside, while Keith, Hunk, and Lance were in position outside, keeping watch on the streets and avenues below.

"Testing?" Pidge's voice crackled over the comms. They were in the castle, orbiting one of the systems uninhabitable planets.

"Copy." Shiro responded.

"Was this really necessary?" Allura asked, uncomfortably tugging at the hem of her short dress.

"We're going to a nightclub on Vaynov and we want to blend in." Sarah said, unintentionally blunt. She didn't much care for the awfully high heeled shoes she was in, but she didn't want to draw attention to her and the others.

"I think the answer is yes." Lance chuckled over the comms.

Sarah blinked, confused for a split second. "Oh. Yea. Sorry, yes, it's necessary." She could sometimes sound annoyed or passive aggressive without meaning to; it was something she was working on. It also didn't help matters that her prophetic nightmare had returned for the past two nights, each prolonging Hagger's torture for what felt like eons.

"Ready?" Shiro asked, peeking out the boarded up windows, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Yep." Coran said as the girls nodded. The Altean exited first; the plan was to have Coran go in first, then the girls, with Shiro entering last. Sarah and Allura pulled drab cloaks over their glittery dresses; they didn't want to attract unwanted attention on the way. When Shiro motioned for them to go, Sarah stepped out onto the street, turning to take Allura's hand, and they set off towards the bright lights and loud music of the nightclub.

The street was crowded as she and the Princess weaved between people. Sarah hoped they could blend in seamlessly, and it seemed they were successful. As they reached the neon lights of the club distract, they removed their cloaks almost in sync, casually letting them fall on the ground behind them without breaking their stride.

"We have visual on Barbie and Teresa." Hunk said from his vantage point as the girls reached the line to get inside.

"Do we seriously have to call them that?" Lance groaned.

"Shush." Pidge hissed.

"I'm inside." Coran said as the girls reached the front.

Sarah consciously made herself relax and smile. She whispered a joke about Lance to Allura to get her giggling just when they reached the bouncer. The girls laughed harder at Lance's protests over the comms. The bouncer didn't even really look at them, the alien just waved them through. As soon as the reached the main room, the music drowned out just about everything. The girls could feel the beat reverberate within them as they proceeded through the dancing crowd. All they could hear was the music; they had no idea what the others were saying.

Sarah stopped and leaned close to Allura's ear so she could hear. "He's probably through those doors." she said, pointing to the double doors in the back guarded by two burly aliens. Allura nodded and followed as Sarah tugged on her hand.

"Sorry ladies, private party." one guard said gruffly.

"Oh, I know." Sarah said in a sickly sweet, bubblegum voice. She held out her right arm for the alien to scan. When it dinged he nodded.

"My apologies." he grunted, opening the door for them.

Right inside was a small room that had what looked like a receptionist. There was another pair of double doors; Sarah assumed thats where Krisox and all the others were. "Ah, Sarah, right?" the receptionist lady alien asked, to which the human girl nodded. "Wait here, I'll go let Krisox know." the woman said as she disappeared through the other double doors.

"Okay, they're about in." the two heard Pidge say; they could actually hear their comms again. "Everyone in position?"

Allura and Sarah heard a chorus of "copy"s and "affirmative"s as the receptionist returned. "He's ready for you." she said, waving them through and smiling brightly. Sarah squeezed Allura's hand as she lead the way inside.

They found themselves in a smokey lounge, with all manner of species relaxing across scattered large pillows. The two had a difficult time in their heels, trying not to step on a pillow or trip over stretched out alien. "Yo!" Krisox's shouted, his voice cutting through the haze. They found him near the back of the room, lying on the floor with two consorts. "Have a seat."

Sarah and Allura shared a look before they modestly sat down near him. "So….we're here." she said dully, wondering what her brother was playing at.

"Yes, you made it, I'm glad." the Dulari pushed himself up. "Oi, my special guests are here." he shouted through the smokey room. They heard movement throughout as the lesser bosses righted themselves and the consorts were sent away. As the haze began to clear, Sarah estimated there were fifteen or twenty other aliens present, all looking their way. "So, my guests have a request. It just so happens that my dear sister, Kayla, has been captured by that Galra idiot, Zarkon." His words were met with outbursts of anger, dismay, and concern; it seemed Krisox wasn't lying when he said Kayla was well loved. Sarah hoped that would help convince them to join the cause. After a moment, Krisox raised his hand, and the room went quiet. "That was my reaction, too. Now, as you all know, i have two sisters. This one," He patted Sarah's knee and she had to fight the urge to slap his hand away. "is my dear sister Sarah. She's been working on a way to rescue Kayla. Tell 'em what you need." he said to her, taking a swig from his glass.

"Um, okay….my plan calls for a like….an armada." she said haltingly as she tried to find the right words. This was met with skeptical murmurs, but she ignored them and pressed on. "By the time we go to execute this, the hope is that um….my team and I….we'll have taken out a significant portion of Zarkon's supply lines and bases and….we're hoping to get some help from what planets we free…"

"Who's 'we'?" a hulking, moss-coloured alien interrupted.

Sarah looked from Krisox to Allura; the former motioned her to get on with it, while the latter looked concerned but nodded grimly. "We….is uhm….me and….the Paladins of Voltron." she said, bracing herself for laughter or mockery. But instead she was met with curious whispering.

"So…it is true, then?" the moss alien asked.

Sarah opened her mouth to speak but simply nodded, not sure how to react. "So…." she began after a long pause. "will…will you help us?"

Most began discussing what joining the war would mean for them; the moss alien, however, was eyeing Allura suspiciously. "Who's she?"

"She-ah-she's-" Sarah started, ready to come up with a cover story, before Allura cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"I am Princess Allura of Altea."

Her announcement was met with a stunned silence, which was abruptly broken by the moss alien. "Well, there ya have it. You don't say no when a legend comes knockin." A few others nodded in agreement, yet others looked unconvinced.

"Okay," Krisox said, standing up; Sarah and Allura followed suit, not sure if they should or not. "We'll further discuss it. If you ain't about it, no hard feelings. I'll only lead in those that want to go. Sarah," he said, turning to her. "Go out the back." he dropped his voice to a barely audible whisper. "you can regroup with your friends without being harassed."

Sarah's eyes widened slightly, but she nodded and, taking Allura by the hand, left the room through the slightly obscured back corner door. Once they were well away from the lounge, she dared to reach Shiro. "Psst?" she whispered discreetly.

"We heard, we're going around. See you in five." Shiro said. She sighed, relieved, and picked up the pace.

Just as they were out the back door, Shiro and Coran came jogging around the corner. "Hey…" she said, holding her arms outstretched as he reached her.

"You okay?" Shiro asked after squeezing her tightly.

"Yea…that went better than I had anticipated." Sarah said as the nuzzled noses. "I think we'll get plenty of support. Now let's get off this gross planet. I don't know about you guys but I've had enough of Vaynov for a lifetime."


	24. Chapter 24

Each time she had her prophetic nightmare, it got longer. It always started at the same point, but the past three had ended in absolute agony; she knew it wasn't the end, but its was almost like her subconscious could only take so much torture.

So it was a very curious thing when she didn't abruptly wake up during Hagger's experiments, but instead the dream continued on.

Sarah felt weak, almost like a rag doll. Whoever was carrying her certainly held her as such, having gruffly tossed her over their shoulder to take her back to the cell. She didn't remember entering the cell; it was almost like she had been teleported from being carried in the hall to being embraced by Shiro in the cell.

She couldn't see his face, but his shoulders shook and it sounded like he was crying. "S-hiro…?" Sarah asked weakly. "Are you okay?"

He shifted so she was curled up against his chest and she could see his face. "I-I'm fine." he said, his voice cracking slightly. "Don't worry about me, okay?"

Sarah frowned and wanted to argue, but she was in so much pain….

"I'm so sorry." Shiro whispered, kissing her head. "I should've done more, I should've…"

She tenderly raised a finger to his lips. "No, there wasn't anything you could do, don't blame yourself, please…" she whimpered; even the smallest movement made the pain sharper and more intense.

"Shuush…" he murmured, cradling her now. "I've got you…I've got you…"

The scene seemed to blur, fading into another. She was being taken away again, but it was hard for her to tell what was going on around her. She heard sobbing and then a heavy door shut, cutting it off. She wearily wondered if it was Shiro and if he was okay, but she didn't have much time to dwell on those thoughts; in what seemed like a matter of seconds, she was on Hagger's table again.

"I've created a new test especially for you today." she whispered with malicious glee. Sarah couldn't tell what she was doing, but she suddenly felt jolts of pure agony flash jaggedly across her body.

* * *

Her screaming melded smoothly into consciousness, as she bolted upright violently. It took her a half second to realise where she was, before she pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly, sobbing. Shiro was up, his arms wrapped firmly around her.

"Don't worry." he murmured. "I won't let it happen. I won't." He sounded so determined and sure, and she wished she could share that certainty. But the pain was still fresh fresh on her mind.

"I don't wanna fall asleep again." she said softly after a long silence, burying her face in her arms.

"That's ok." Shiro said gently. "You want to go to Darling?"

She was quiet for a moment before she raised her head and wiped the tears from her face. "Yea." she said, hiccuping slightly. "I think I might have found some kind of fuel reserve of Zarkon's…just waiting on some news from the group." Sarah grabbed her bear and shakily slid off the bed. "You don't have to come with, if you wanna sleep some more…" she murmured, though she hoped he would. She didn't want to be alone.

"Nah, I'm fine. Not really tired anyway." he said soothingly, following her.

* * *

"Yep, it is a reserve…or something…" she said, yawning. Her contact had replied back to her, confirming that the facility her planet-watching group had spotted was indeed one of Zarkon's. "It looks pretty big but like…just weapons and energy and stuff…utilities….its not a stronghold."

"You say that as if taking it will be easy." he chuckled from over her shoulder.

"Well, I'm not outright saying that, just….I don't know, its pretty isolated….." she shrugged, looking to him. "Still worth a mention to the team."

"Yea, I agree. And it does seem like a valuable target. You wanna plan this mission too, Double-oh-seven?" Shiro teased. Sarah laughed and playfully pushed him. Laughter was good. Though it would only be temporary, he hoped he had gotten her mind off the nightmare. The prophetic nightmare that would not come to pass; he would see to it himself. He was not going to let Hagger touch her.


	25. Chapter 25

Shiro found himself in a Galra cell, holding Sarah tightly. It terrified him to the bone that he was again in Galra custody, and worse yet, Sarah was with him. He'd rather die a thousand times than have her be a prisoner of Zarkon. But there was nothing that could be done about that now. He focused on keeping it together for her sake; she was so small and trembling terribly. He wanted to assure her that he'd get them out, he'd protect her…but with his arm disabled, he wasn't sure if he could.

The cell door opened, and instinctively Shiro maneuvered Sarah behind him. His worst fear was confirmed as the officer gave he orders. He didn't know how much damage he'd be able to do, he just hoped the end result would be them taking him instead of her. He'd suffered at Hagger's hands before; he knew he could take it. But Sarah….

He blacked out when one of the sentries threw him against the wall. When he next came to, she was being escorted out of the cell by the sentries. His eyes widened in panic. "Sarah!" he yelled, clumsily getting to his feet and making to run after her. He didn't know what he was trying to accomplish, he just wanted to protect her from whatever Hagger had planned. But the Galra officer caught him, knocking the wind out of him; he collapsed, clutching his middle. Shiro heard her call to him, but he could only just barely make out what she was saying. "Sarah…."

After what felt like a lifetime, the cell door opened again. He hastily rose to his feet, bracing himself. The Galra officer had Sarah slung over his shoulder; he went to drop her but Shiro caught her, holding her small form close to him. He waited till the door closed to check and see if she was breathing. Mercifully, she was. It was then that he noticed the fresh cuts and bruises that decorated her thin body. He couldn't stop himself from crying. He held her even closer, crying into her shoulder as his shoulder shook from sobbing. He couldn't protect her, he couldn't do anything.

"S-hiro…?" she said, her voice small and weak. "Are you okay?"

He shifted to where he could see her face. Her beautiful face marred by a long gash on her cheek. "I-I'm fine." he said, trying to be brave again for her; his voice cracked ever so slightly, betraying him. "Don't worry about me, okay?" She frowned at him; he could tell she wanted to pursue the subject. "I'm so sorry." he whispered, kissing her head gently. "I should've done more, I should've…." he trailed off, not sure how to finish that thought. She brought her finger to his lips, quieting him; she winced slightly, and he realised just how much pain she must be in; he felt his heart break.

"No, there wasn't anything you could do, don't blame yourself, please…." she pleaded, whimpering.

"Shush…" he said, cradling her. "I've got you…I've got you…." He hoped she would sleep at least; he didn't want to think about what Hagger had done to her that left her in so much pain.

Two days later, they came for her again. And again he was helpless to stop them. He collapsed to the floor, sobbing; he was useless. The woman he loved was being tortured, maybe worse, and he was powerless to stop it.

He heard her screams this time. It seemed like they were being broadcast, echoing throughout the ship. They felt like knives stabbing his heart, again and again. But when they stopped, he was filled with dread.

They brought her back shortly after. As the cell door closed, he held her close, noticing just how ragged her breathing was, how pale she had become.

"Stay with me, baby." he begged. "Please, I need you…"

"Sh…iro…." she whispered barely audible; she didn't open her eyes, why couldn't she open her eyes?

"Shuush, shuush, rest…just …" His sobs cut him off, his whole body was shaking. "Sarah….please…."

"I'm…sorry…I am….a damsel….."

"No, no you aren't, don't say that." he cried, tears streaming down his face. He wasn't ready, he didn't know how to live without her. "Please, I love you so much, I need you, I can't…."

"I love you, too…" she whispered, with what might have been her last breath.

"No, no, no, no…" he said, again and again, rocking as he held her limp body. "No, no, no…" It couldn't be real, she couldn't be gone. He kissed her forehead, before resting his head against hers. His vision was blurred from crying but he didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. The most important person in the universe was gone and he couldn't prevent it.

He jumped slightly when the cell door opened. He clutched Sarah ever more closely as Zarkon and Hagger entered. "What could you possible want?" he spat at them.

"I wanted to see if we could break your spirit." Zarkon said darkly.

Shiro didn't respond, glaring at them through his tears.

"I knew she wouldn't last long." Hagger said, her voice dripping with malice.

"It seems she was wrong. She wasn't your greatest strength." Zarkon smirked. "She was your greatest weakness."

"Why don't you just kill me already?" Shiro growled.

"It's coming." the Galra emperor said, kneeling in front of the Paladin and pulling out his bayard. "I wanted to see you broken with my own eyes."

* * *

When Zarkon's blade pierced his heart, Shiro woke up with a start, breathing heavily and covered in a cold sweat. Frantically, he searched for Sarah in the dark. She was sitting up, holding her knees close to her. He was so relieved she was alive, he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Shiro-?" she asked, confused and concerned as he began crying.

"I-I saw it…I had….your nightmare."

"Oh…." she said softly, wrapping her arms around him.

"You died…" he sobbed.

"I….I know….I woke up after I….after that happened." she said, her voice hollow and shaking. "Is that…did it end there for you, too?"

"No." Shiro pulled back, holding her face, her beautiful unblemished face in his hands. "No, I woke when I died."

Her eyes widened in alarm, filling up with tears.

They rested their foreheads against each other; he closed his eyes, listening to the sound of her breathing, savouring it.

"I daresay it's finished." Sarah murmured after a while. "We should tell Niruth…." But she didn't move and neither did he; he had just lived through the worst Zarkon could do, and he just needed to hold her for a while, rationalise with himself; She's safe, we're safe, Zarkon is far away….I won't let Hagger touch her…..


	26. Chapter 26

It didn't take much to convince the team to take the large facility. Sarah, Shiro, and Allura planned out the mission, spending three days poring over what little intel they had been able to gather. Most of it was what Sarah had acquired from the group dedicated to tracking Zarkon's movements and updating their maps each time a dead planet was discovered. One of her contacts had been patrolling the area, as a planet in the system had recently been sucked dry of its quintessence, when they came across the sizeable storage facility. At least, that's what they thought it was. They hadn't been able to get close.

Sarah insisted on having multiple backup plans as her prophetic nightmare and Niruth's words were always on her mind. Her mentor could only suggest vigilance, and informing the rest of the team so they could be aware of the potential fate of their friends. Allura understood the girl's need to be careful and have contingency plans, but had ton insist on the third day that they were more than well prepared. This bothered Sarah immensely, as her mind became a whirlwind of worry and what-if scenarios.

"Hey…we got this." Shiro said as they were laying down the night before they put their plan into action. "We have back up plans for our back up plans."

"But still, i mean, what if-"

"Then we'll handle it on the fly, we can do this." he cut her off, kissing her forehead. "I won't let anything bad happen, I promise. Let's try to sleep, yea?" Shiro pulled her closer to him, resting his forehead against hers on the pillow. Ever since the nightmare, he found the sound of her breathing to be soothing and adored it. He didn't like thinking about it, but he could still vividly remember her taking her last breath. Shiro squeezed her tighter to ground him.

* * *

The plan was for them to split into two groups; Lance, Hunk, and Keith would attack one end of the facility with their lions, while Sarah, Shiro, Pidge, and Allura would infiltrate the other end and disable various operations, shutting it down from the inside. Sarah had dubbed the teams Rainbow Jellybeans and Unicorn Sparkles, respectively, for reasons that weren't obvious to anybody.

The distant explosions rocking the halls told them that Team Rainbow Jellybeans was executing their half of the plan. Team Unicorn Sparkles carefully crept along, following Sarah as she explored the halls using quintessence. Most of the sentries were drawn to the commotion and had left their routes and posts.

"Okay, around this corner is clear." she murmured, eyes closed as she followed the flow of energy with mind's eye. "There's a door…leading to a really long room…Might want to try there, there's a bunch of disturbances in the flow."

Shiro nodded as she opened her eyes and the team followed him.

Just as Sarah had said, there was a long room lined with control panels and holographic screens. Only one bot was standing guard; Shiro disposed of it quickly.

Pidge ran to the larger screens at the far end and set up shop, hacking into the system to see what operations they should target.

"What do we need to do, Pidge?" Allura asked, looking at the monitors curiously.

"Hang on, I'm trying to disable….there we go. Okay, go to a panel and just…." they shrugged. "…hit buttons."

"But Shiro's the only one with-"

"I disabled that, you all can work it now."

"Cool!" Sarah said, running to one of the glowing panels excitedly. "Um…let's see what this one does." She touched a random button on the screen and clapped giddily when they heard a large machine winding down nearby. Shiro and Allura went to separate panels and soon the room was full of blinking red lights as alarms off in the distance sounded.

"Alright, let's wrap this up and move on." Shiro said, moving to the door to check the halls.

Sarah tapped one more button before turning to follow. However when she turned, she found herself in a completely different location. She looked around in confusion for a moment, before her prophetic nightmare hit her like a train, playing at lighting fast speed. When it finished, she was back in the room with the others, but she was on her hands and knees, trembling.

"Sarah, what is it?" Shiro asked, very close to her.

She turned her wide eyes to his face, full of concern. "The…nightmare….it….here…..I think….I think Hagger's…." she said haltingly, having trouble making her thoughts coherent. "Shiro, we have to go, we have to _go_."

His eyes widened in fear and nodded.

"What is it?" Allura asked, kneeling next to them.

"We have to leave. The nightmare where we….we have to go or it'll come true." he said, helping Sarah to her feet. "Pidge, wrap it up, we gotta go!" He rested his forehead against Sarah's. "It's not going to happen, I swear." he whispered.

Allura began issuing orders to the other team as Pidge disconnected from the panels at the other end of the room. A sudden set of nearby explosions caused them all to almost fall over. "What was that-?" Pidge started, before something directly above them blew.

The explosion caused the floor above them to collapse in, separating Pidge from the rest of their team. When the dust settled, the panels were sparking and huge chunks of metal took up a large portion of the middle of the room.

"Pidgey?" Sarah called, pushing herself to her feet and trying to look through the jumbled mess between them. "Pidge, are you okay?"

She heard coughing from the other side. "Yea, I'm fine….owwww…." the Green Paladin moaned.

"Pidge what's wrong?" Shiro asked, concerned, joining Sarah by the rubble.

"I….I think….my leg…I think it's broken." they whimpered. "I can't move it."

"Don't worry, we'll come to you." Allura said, trying to find a way to crawl through. "I can't fit through any of this." she murmured, turning to Sarah, her eyes wide; Sarah nodded, understanding.

The small human took a moment to find a stable entrance before getting down on her hands and knees and crawling through. The roof caving in made a very hazardous obstacle course, requiring Sarah to nimbly crawl, climb, slide, and duck through the pieces of jagged metal. "Haha, success." she said triumphantly when she made it to the other side.

"But how do we get out?" Pidge asked ruefully.

"Hmmm…." Sarah murmured, looking around them. The room was in shambles, panels missing from the walls themselves; but it was nothing but huge metal beams behind where the panels had been. Her eyes moved to the ground, where she spotted an air vent. "Pidgey, the vents!"

"Still, I can't move…."

"I could move you….might not be one hundred percent pleasant but…." she trailed off, shrugging.

"What d'yo-oh!" Pidge gasped as Sarah lifted them slightly with white magic.

"Sarah don't do too much, don't give yourself away." Shiro said warily.

"I know, this isn't much." Sarah said, focusing. "Uh, probably tuck everything in. And give me directions." she turned to Pidge, manipulating the flow of quintessence to ease them through the vent.

After a moment, Pidge's voice echoed back to her. "Okay stop, go up."

On the other side of the rubble Sarah heard Shiro saying he was going to try to find another vent opening in the hall before jogging out.

"Stop, go horizontal like you were a minute ago."

"Pidgey would it be okay if I set you down for a sec and got into the vent too? This is getting hard…"

"Uhm…sure…" Pidge said uncertainly.

Sarah set them down as carefully as she could manage, before crawling into the vent herself. When she reached the bend, she closed her eyes and disappeared into smoke, only to reappear next to Pidge, who squeaked. "Sorry." Sarah said apologetically. "Is that a grate up ahead?" she asked, pointing to the horizontal lines an exterior light was creating on the inside of the vent.

"I guess so."

"Okay, one sec." Sarah said, nodding, poofing to Pidge's other side so she could investigate. Reaching it, she peeked out and saw the hallway they were in earlier. "Shiro?" she whispered.

"Sarah?" she heard him say, coming into view a second later.

"Hey!" she said, waving when he saw her. "I'm gonna drop down and then ease Pidgey out. Where's Allura?"

"Still in the room, I think, I'll go get her." he said, jogging out of sight.

Sarah pushed the grate out of the way, barely catching before it could fall to the floor. She slide her feet through, lowering herself carefully and then dropping the rest of the way. After setting the grate down, she looked up and called to Pidge. "Ready Pidgey?"

"Yea." Pidge's voice replied, echoing slightly.

Taking a stance, Sarah resumed moving the Green Paladin gently through the vent. "Okay stay very still…." she murmured when she had Pidge over the vent opening, easing them down to the hall floor. "Shiro or Allura could probably carry you the rest of the way." she said, bending down next to them.

Another explosion rocked the hall, and fire erupted at the far end. Sarah watched with widening eyes as the fireball hurried towards them. Looking back, she couldn't see Shiro or Allura. Almost instinctively, she threw up a quintessence barrier in front of them just before they were to be incinerated. She and Pidge winced from the rush of heat as the wave of flames hit the invisible barrier.

"Sarah!" she heard from behind her as the flames died. She blinked, turning as Shiro and Allura ran up to them. She had just performed some heavy magic; there was no way Hagger or whatever druids might be around missed that. "Oops." she said, her eyes wide.


	27. Chapter 27

"Never mind that." Shiro said, gently picking up Pidge. "Let's just get back to the Green Lion. Pidge, do you think you can still pilot it?"

"I think so, if not, I'm sure Green can get us out herself." they shrugged as the team began running back to their entry point.

As they ran, Sarah tried to look ahead of them, around corners and down halls, to prevent any unwelcome surprises. "There's a handful of sentries up ahead." she warned.

"Shiro, let me carry Pidge." Allura said, freeing up his Galra arm.

Seconds later four bots rounded the corner, guns ready, but Shiro was too quick for them. The others didn't even have to break their pace as he tossed the last bot to the ground.

"Lance, Kieth, Hunk, do you copy?" he asked over the comms.

"Yea, what's up?" Lance asked, explosions sounding off in the distance.

"We're pulling out, Hagger's here."

"How do you know?" Hunk asked, concerned.

"We just….do." Shiro trailed off, sharing a glance with Sarah. "Stay engaged until we're out, might need you to cover us."

"Right. Were those explosions over there you guys?" Keith asked, wary.

"Uh…" Pidge started, uncertain. "I suppose it could have been."

"I mean we did kind of just hit buttons at random….or at least I did…" Sarah input. "Shit, I think some sentries are comin at us from behind." she said, turning and throwing up another barrier just in time to deflect the plasma bolts. It was hard to focus on running, the comms, and seeing through quintessence. She stopped listening so she could instead keep the barrier going behind them, but that also meant being unable to venture ahead and look out for hazards. With an entire squadron behind them, she didn't have much choice.

"We're almost there." she heard Shiro say next to her. Looking ahead, she saw their entrance/exit point; an airlock, outside of which was the Green Lion. Allura reached it first and set Pidge down to get it open. Sarah and Shiro slowed to a stop a little ways from them, Sarah still blocking the sentries as Shiro ducked and took them out one by one.

"Okay, got it!" Allura said as it opened, revealing the open maw of Pidge's lion.

"Sarah, go!" Shiro yelled over his shoulder as Allura carried Pidge into the mechanical beast.

"Not without you!" she shouted irritably as he took apart the last two bots. She lowered her barrier as he turned to follow, about to turn and go herself, when Shiro's eyes widened in terror at something just behind her.

Before she could ask what he saw, electrified claws dug into her side, causing her to sharply gasp in pain. "Hello, White Witch." Hagger hissed from behind her. She transported them both away just as Shiro started to reach for his girlfriend. Suddenly Sarah found herself surrounded by four other druids. "I'll get my champion soon enough. He wouldn't leave without you." she cackled, letting go of her grip on the small human.

"You aren't gonna touch him ever again." Sarah growled, releasing a pulse that pushed Hagger back, giving her enough room to transport herself back. When she reappeared by the airlock, she collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain. Shiro wasted no time in scooping her up and running into the Green Lion's waiting jaws.

"Okay, go, go!" he said frantically when he reached the cockpit. Pidge nodded from the pilot chair and Green took off; it seemed to understand that its Paladin was hurt and was taking the reigns. Allura was giving commands to the other team over the comms, but Sarah was having trouble comprehending what she was saying, her pain was blinding. Shiro laid her on the cockpit floor, kneeling next to her. "You'll be okay." he said as her world became blurry. "Don't worry."

* * *

As soon as the pod opened, she was in Shiro's arms. "Hey…" he said, close to her ear.

"Mmmm….what happened…." she murmured, rubbing her eyes.

"We were successful." Pidge said from somewhere behind Shiro; he turned so she could see the rest of the room. "Despite the unexpected complication of the druids."

"Oh yea…." Sarah said as the events came back to her. "Pidgey, are you okay? Your leg…"

"All better!" they chirped happily.

"How are you feeling?" Allura said from Sarah's right, concerned.

"Huh-? Oh…" she looked to where Hagger had grabbed her, poking at it gently. "Good as new I think." Allura giggled slightly, as Shiro kissed the top of her head. "Everyone else make it out okay?" She had just noticed that Team Rainbow Jellybeans was nowhere to be seen.

"Yea, they're cleaning their Lions. They got a little messy on their end of things." Shiro answered. "You wanna go lay down?"

Sarah wanted to crack a joke about having just woken up from the pod, but she did feel oddly tired. "Yea…" she murmured, leaning in to him.

"Do you want me to carry you?" he asked, chuckling.

"Maybe." she mock pouted, leaning her head back to look at him. He caressed her cheek with his human hand, kissing her deeply.

"As you wish."


	28. Chapter 27-5

"Ok, walk me through it one more time." Shiro said, standing in the middle of the training room.

Sarah smiled patiently; it could be difficult for someone to focus on their own quintessence, let alone that of another person. But as soon as she was able to make clones of herself, she insisted Shiro learn to tell the difference between a clone and the real witch. She knew if he were to face Hagger again, she'd pull this trick and she needed Shiro to be able to do this. She didn't like pushing people, it was necessary. Luckily, he understood that and was willing to do as she said.

"It probably helps if you close yours eyes." she suggested, closing her own eyes. "Think um….think how you connect with your lion." She could see the movement of life energy in the room, parting around Shiro's own quintessence. It had become easy for her, after all the meditating with Niruth, to explore the world through the flow of energy itself. "Try to focus on your energy. Listen to your heart beat. Take deep breaths."

"Okay…" he said after a moment. "I think I got it. What now?"

"Let's just focus on this for a second. Get a feel for your quintessence. I don't know if this'll work for you, but I see the different energies in different colours."

Shiro chuckled, but after a moment he gasped slightly. "Whoa…I'm purple?"

"Yes! You are purple!" Sarah said excitedly. "That's really good! Okay, now try branching out. The universe's energy is more subtle, but it flows all around us. I see it as a kind of white gold."

"Okay…is it…..is it parting around me?"

"Yes!" she giggled, clapping. "Okay now try to follow the flow towards me."

There was a long pause before he spoke. "Hey, you're like…really pastel purple?"

"Lavender. Very good! That's the trick, at least from what I've found; follow the flow of the quintessence around you." She opened her eyes just as he did. "Okay. My clones will have a very very weak quintessence signature. The white-gold flow will pass right through them."

"Okay. Should I have my eyes open?"

"Hmm…" Sarah murmured, thinking. "Maybe…try to find my signature with your eyes closed, and then open them and…I don't know hug me or something." she laughed.

"Alright." Shiro chuckled. "Ready when you are."

Sarah nodded. She vanished like smoke, and then a second later there were two dozen copies of her surrounding Shiro. "I'm gonna cover my eyes so I don't give the game away." a handful of them said before all of them raised their hands to their eyes. The real Sarah tried very hard not to see through the quintessence to follow his movement, as she feared it might tip him off to her real location. Not doing anything at all was killing her though; she could fidget slightly, as the clones would mimic her, but not being able to really focus on anything with her mind was driving her mad. She tried to listen carefully for his footsteps, as that'd at least be something, but she also didn't want to unintentionally give away her location.

After what felt like forever, but was probably actually only a handful of minutes, she felt herself being picked up. "Whoa!" she giggled, removing her hands from her eyes as he spun her around, hugging her. "You found me!"

"I sure did." he laughed, setting her down. "Do I get a prize?"

"Yup!" She rose on her tip toes, wrapping her arms around his neck, and kissed him. "Wanna go again?" she asked as she lowered herself, blushing ever so slightly.

"If that's the prize, I think i could go all night." he chuckled, tapping her nose.


	29. Chapter 28

"It's gone?!" Sarah almost yelled.

"Yea, I told you, we were successful." Pidge said nonchalantly, reaching across the table to grab one of Hunk's rolls.

"I mean I thought you meant we hardcore damaged it or…." she trailed off, not sure she fully believed what she was hearing. She had inquired after the extent of the damage they had subjected the Galra facility to, as she wanted to know exactly what happened. She hadn't expected to hear that they had somehow caused a reactor meltdown that completely obliterated the place, leaving a large crater where it had once been. "I guess one of those random buttons really fucked it over."

"Yepmf." Pidge said with their mouth full of roll.

"Ohmygod Pidgey, don't talk with your mouth full." Sarah chided, laughing.

"Hey, has anyone seen Keith?" Lance asked as he entered the dining room.

"Not since yesterday, he said he was going to some city on a planet close by. There's like an Anti-Galra cell based there." Pidge answered.

"He went alone?" Lance looked at the Green Paladin alarmed.

"Well that certainly sounds like Keith." Sarah said with a shrug as she finished her meal. "Why don't you talk to Shiro? Surely mullet cleared it with him first."

"Yea, yea I'll do that, okay." he said uncertainly as he left.

Sarah stared after him, concerned. "I know that Keith is impulsive and kinda reckless, but like…"

"Yea, it is worrisome." Pidge nodded.

She frowned as the Green Paladin cleaned up their area before following suit. "I think I'll go ask Shiro, too. You Paladins really shouldn't split up." she teased, gently elbowing Pidge as they left together.

They found Shiro, Allura, and Lance in the control room, looking at the holographic map. "Did you guys find mullet yet?" Sarah asked as she and Pidge joined them.

"No," Allura said, adjusting the map. "We can't seem to reach him nor his lion. They're well within range, or they should be, I can't think why we aren't able to contact him."

"I can ask Niruth. She's been connecting with the lions." Sarah offered.

"All I can tell you," her mentor said to them before she could turn to move. "Is that his lion is somewhere in this system. You may want to go looking for them."

Shiro nodded. "Yea. But not as Voltron. Don't want to draw unwanted attention. We'll split into teams of two."

* * *

Sarah and Shiro walked through the crowded, narrow marketplace, looking for any sign of Keith or his lion or the anti-Galra cell he had been looking for. "I can't get a read on anything." Sarah grumbled, annoyed; with so many people, she couldn't see through the jumbled mess of quintessence swirling around them.

"It's fine." Shiro said, squeezing her hand. "Just look with your eyes. Not that that's really much better…maybe we should look somewhere else."

"Sounds good to me." Sarah chirped as the two turned around to return to their pod.

They walked in a comfortable silence for a while, both still keeping an eye out for any sign of Keith. A scream up ahead drew their attention forward and then up at the Galra ships that were heading for the city. "Shit." Sarah whispered as Shiro tried to contact the others.

"Comms are down." Shiro said, tugging Sarah into a deserted alley.

"What should we do?" she asked as they ran away from the now panicking, screaming crowd.

"See if we can get back to the pod, or go underground if that's not an option."

"I don't think it will be, they'd shoot us down."

"Underground it is. Still, I'd like to try and get a message out to the team or Coran if he's within range."

Sarah nodded as the alley emptied onto a another crowded street. They took a sharp right, running against the flow of the terrified crowd.

"Um, Shiro?" she said uncertainly, as a Galra ship positioned itself just ahead of them. "I think we might need to give up on the pod."

The ship emitted a beam of light that began sucking up everything it touched. The two came to skittering stop and turned to ran with the crowd, but the ship's beam was too fast; as they were pulled toward the ship, Shiro pulled Sarah to him and they clung to each other.

* * *

Luckily, they were placed in a cell together, along with half a dozen other captured aliens. In an effort to make things light and keep their mind off the situation they were in, Sarah complained about the prisoner garb they had been forced to wear. She pulled the tattered purple cloth over her head and tied it around her waist to make a skirt. Shiro smiled sadly as she twirled, clapping when it stayed put. Though they had apparently avoided their nightmare's fate, it still lingered on his mind. It seemed very likely to come true now that they were actually prisoners of the Galra, but Sarah had made a good point; the officers didn't know who they were. It was weak but it was hope. They spent their time trying to recall all they knew about Galra ships and protocols, and Shiro for the first time ever talked about what he remembered from the gladiator arena. He desperately wished that she would be sent to the work camps and not to fight, as he was likely to be. But fate had other plans.

* * *

"Shiro," Sarah said steadily, looking down the long line leading to the gladiator arena. "if either of us go out there, the gig is up. You'll be almost instantly recognisable," She turned to him, smiling grimly. "and how long do you think it'd take for word of a white witch to reach Hagger?"

He knew she was right, but couldn't see a way out of it; one of them was going to have to enter the arena, and it would not be her. He figured he'd have to do what he did to get Matt out of fighting. It killed him that he'd have to hurt her but it was better than the alternative.

As they grew closer to the arena entrance, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She turned to him, her makeshift skirt swirling. Taking his face in her hands, she rose on her toes to kiss him. "I love you." she murmured when she pulled away. Her eyes were apologetic, but before he could say or do anything, he felt a sharp zap at his neck followed by darkness.

When he came to, he was in a cell with half a dozen other prisoners. As his eyes adjusted, he realised Sarah wasn't there and began looking around frantically. "Hey," he called to one of the other aliens. "did you see what happened to the human that was with me, the small girl?"

The willowy, three-eyed creature appraised him curiously. "The small sorceress boldly faced the Undefeated. She robbed it of the title, before vanishing."

Shiro's eyes grew wide. "She went into the arena? Is she okay?"

"We know not." the alien said, shaking its head. "As soon as the beast was down for good she turned to smoke. No one has seen her since. The Galra are on high alert."

As if on cue, a troop of Galra soldiers and bots marched passed their cell. Shiro stood, peeking through the small cell window, but all he could see was the hall way. He slumped against the wall, sinking to the ground and holding his head in his hands. What did she do? It must have been her that knocked him out; that explained why she looked apologetic. He noticed the alien was watching him. "Did you….did you see the match?" he asked, leaning his head against the wall and dropping his hands. Shiro wasn't sure if he was ready to hear about it, but he needed to know.

The creature nodded slowly. "Truly magnificent. A being of so small a stature, against a monster, and she didn't even get a scratch." Shiro frowned, confused, as the alien went on. "I had heard youngling tales of White Magic, but never did I imagine I'd live to see it."

"I heard another whisper that she is a Sorceress of Olde. She calls the last dragons brethren and has been sent to free us." another alien chipped in eagerly.

"With mine ears," a being with large mouse-like ears began. "I overheard her whispering as she became one with the air. She spoke of dragons and Voltron."

"You heard no such thing." a grouchy alien said irritably.

"No, I did! I hear her every so often as she drifts like a vapor. I swear to every god that she is everywhere at once, even now!"

"Shush!" a voice hissed from seemingly nowhere. "If you're too loud you'll attract unwanted attention. Now nobody react to me, got it?" The prisoners looked around in concern and curiosity, murmuring.

Shiro stood up and looked carefully around the dark cell. That had been Sarah's voice, but he couldn't see her.

"Boo." she said playfully from behind him, causing him to jump and several of the other prisoners to gasp or shriek. She scowled, vanishing into smoke, her voice filling the room from nowhere again. "Literally the fuck did I say? Get it together I don't want my location known." There was a long silence before she spoke again. "Okay, let's try this again." She materialised in the middle of the room this time, planting a finger to her lips as she walked over to Shiro. Before he could say anything, she had her arms around his neck and was kissing him deeply.

"W-what…" he muttered, breaking away after a moment. "What happened? What did you do?" he asked, concern engraved in his face as he caressed her cheek.

"Well…" she began, blushing sheepishly. "I kind of uh….knocked you out….so you didn't have to go in the arena again. I went in instead."

"But-?!" he began, alarmed.

"Listen," she said, cutting him off abruptly. "You'd be recognised faster than me. Not to mention, there's no way in hell I'm letting you back in there. Besides," She moved her hands to her hips. "I can take care of myself and I think some of these guys can attest to that."

The three-eyed alien rose, nodding in agreement with her. "She took the Undefeated down easily and quickly. It was unlike anything I had ever seen."

Shiro looked between them, confused and worried. He knew she had been training with Niruth and Allura virtually every day since her dragon mentor had joined them, but he hadn't actually seen her in action. It was hard to believe she had held her own, even with the other prisoner's testimony to back it up.

Not wanting to start an argument, he changed the subject. "What have you been doing since then? How long was I out?"

"Couple hours maybe." Sarah shrugged. "I've been in air vents scoping the place out. There's a curious number of blind spots in this place."

"What are you planning…."

"I'll let you know when I finish planning it." she said with a smirk. "Gotta go, another squad's coming this way." She rose to her toes and kissed him again, before reluctantly pulling away and disappearing into smoke.

He and the willowy alien shared a look. "I understand why you worry." the being said gently. "She is quite small. But…she is very powerful."


	30. Chapter 29

She knew he was going to get her out of going into the arena. She remembered his retelling of what he did to save Matt Holt from going in, and figured he'd try something similar. But she was determined save him from being a gladiator again. She knew she had to act quickly, because he wasn't likely to hesitate. When he took her hand, she braced herself for what she was about to do. Turning to him, she rose to her toes to hastily kiss him. "I love you." she said softly. His eyes were confused and he was about to question her, but she knocked him out with a small zap. It was a fairly recent skill she had been taught and she hadn't been able to test it out, but Shiro immediately slinking into unconsciousness let her know she was successful.

She watched sadly as the Galra took him away to a cell somewhere; he wouldn't be too happy with her when he woke. Turning to face the front, she mentally rehearsed the various techniques Niruth had taught her. Before she knew it, she was being ushered into the arena.

An absolutely disgusting brute of a thing was her opponent. It had four arms and swung a block of earth the size of a human car on a chain as thick as she was. Somewhere in the back of her mind she realised she should be scared to bits, but oddly enough, she wasn't. She didn't know why, but she was confident that all would turn out okay. She could defeat this creature they called "the Undefeated".

There wasn't much of a signal of when to begin; the brute began swinging its chain over its head, getting ready to let it fly towards her. But she was ready. When he let it go, she sliced the chain with a white slash, breaking it. She spun, whirling the mound around her head and launching it back at the monster. It hadn't anticipated anything of the sort, and was too dumbfounded to react; the chunk of earth hit it straight in the head, knocking it over. Sarah waited a few seconds to see if it would stir; when it did not, she smirked to herself. The crowd in the arena was in uproar and Galra soldiers were trying to quell the crowd everywhere.

Knowing she wasn't likely to have another opportunity of this nature, she vanished in a wisp of smoke, transporting herself to a vent shaft that led into the arena. A wide grin formed across her lips as the audience virtually began to riot. Turning, she began crawling through the shaft on her hands and knees, determined to learn the lay of the land. She switched between using her eyes and seeing through quintessence to navigate and form a mental map in her head.

Sarah spent a few hours exploring, being careful to stay out of sight. The Galra were on high alert and looking for her, but it seemed they still didn't think to look in ventilation shafts. She was very grateful for this oversight of theirs.

She lost track of time, but when she was exploring through the flow of quintessence, she found Shiro's signature. She transported herself into a vent directly above his cell, listening to see if he was awake or not. She waited a bit longer than she had intend, enjoying the amusing conversation he was having with the other aliens. She had to shove her fist in her mouth to keep herself from laughing; 'sorceress of old', 'dragon brethren', it was almost too much. One of the aliens began to get particularly loud and she decided to intervene, letting her voice be carried into the room via quintessence. "Shush! If you're too loud you'll attract unwanted attention. Now nobody react to me, got it?"

After a second she materialised in the cell, accidentally behind Shiro. Still rather amused, she playfully said, "Boo." This spooked everyone so much they gasped or shrieked. Annoyed, Sarah transported herself back to the vent to scold them in safety. "Literally the fuck did I say? Get it together, I don't want my location known." She paused, scoping out the hallway outside to see if any sentries or soldiers noticed the jumpy prisoners. When it appeared no one was coming to investigate, she prepared to materialise in again. "Okay, let's try this again." This time she made sure she appeared in the middle of the cell. She held a finger to her lips, hoping they understood to be quiet, and walked up to Shiro. Unable to restrain herself, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply, pulling him closer to her. Almost as a reflex, he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

She would have gladly continued forever, but he broke away, seemingly intent on addressing the situation. "W-what….what happened? What did you do?" he asked, concerned, as he caressed her cheek.

"Well…" she began, blushing sheepishly as she leaned into his hand. "I kind of uh…knocked you out….so you didn't have to go in the arena again. I went in instead."

"But-?!" he began, but she cut him off.

"Listen. You'd be recognised faster than me. Not to mention, there's no way in hell I'm letting you back in there. Besides," she smiled confidently, moving her hands to her hips. "I can take care of myself, and I think some of these guys can attest to that."

An alien with three eyes rose and nodded. "She took the Undefeated down easily and quickly. It was unlike anything I had ever seen."

Shiro still didn't look convinced, but he changed the subject. "What have you been doing since then? How long was I out?"

"Couple hours maybe." she shrugged. "I've been in the air vents scoping the place out. There's a curious number of blind spots in this place."

"What are you planning…." he asked cautiously.

"I'll let you know when I finish planning it." she said, smirking. She sensed a change in the flow of life energy and knew a Galra squad was approaching. " Gotta go, another squad's coming this way." She rose to kiss him again, desperately wanting to get lost in his lips; but this wasn't the place for that. Reluctantly, she pulled away and transported herself back to the vent, silently crawling along. She did indeed have a plan forming, but it was going to require some help….and a lot of explosives.


	31. Chapter 30

"Do you see what I mean?" Sarah asked Shiro. The two were sitting cross-legged across from each other, eyes closed as they navigated their surroundings through the flow of quintessence. "I don't what they are, but these small rooms are virtually totally unused."

"Mmmm…" Shiro murmured. It wasn't the clearest picture in the world, but he got the gist of it; throughout the network of ventilation shafts were small rooms, just big enough for two people to stand up comfortably. "This is a pretty confusing network though, how are you going to keep it straight?"

"I'm just…really good with maps." she giggled. "I love maps."

He smiled; he knew this very well. Her favourite part of planning missions was looking over the maps. "Any way you can get a physical copy of that map?"

They opened their eyes at the same time, and Sarah bit her lip. "Probably….not….unless I can get something to draw with and on."

Shiro chuckled. "Fair enough." He cocked an eyebrow when he noticed she seemed pensive. "Whats up?"

"Well….there's something I want to try." she said cautiously, holding her hands out with her palms up.

Shiro placed his hands in hers and she closed her eyes. A second later, he found himself a foot away from his original position. "Whoa. Did you just-?"

"Yea." she said, smirking. "Niruth was in the middle of teaching me this when we left. With a little more practise, I should be able to get you into the shafts with me." Sarah beamed proudly.

"Its not too draining?"

"It is a bit more than just me alone, but Niruth taught me how to conserve energy first thing, so I've gotten really good at not exhausting myself."

Shiro nodded, smiling. "So, in the meantime…?"

"I….don't really know. I need supplies, like grenades and…." she paused as her stomach rumbled. "Oh, food too, that's something humans need to survive."

Shiro chuckled, pulling a small parcel from under his ragged shirt. "I kind of had a feeling. It might not be your favourite thing in the world but…" He passed her the prisoner rations he had set aside just for her.

"Oh," she blinked, surprised. "Thank you." He knew she had a strange fear of unfamiliar food, but hoped she'd at least eat some as it was food in the end. He smiled warmly as she unwrapped and took small nibbles. "Hmm." she murmured. "It's….not completely terrible."

* * *

"Sorry, what's your name again?" Shiro asked the three-eyed alien after Sarah left to do more recon.

"Kintak. And you are Shiro and the sorceress is….?"

"Sarah." Shiro nodded.

"I admire your and her courage. In the face of the expansive Galra empire, it is almost unimaginable to stand up against them." Kintak looked dejectedly at their long, spindly fingers.

"Hey." Shiro said, catching the alien's eye. "There is still hope. Voltron is real."

"But how can it be? It is but a youngling story."

"It's not just a story. I know, because I'm one of the Paladins."

Kintak's three eyes widened in awe. "But Voltron is supposed to be the most powerful weapon ever created."

"And it is. That's why Zarkon is so desperate to get his hands on it. He knows Voltron is the only thing that can defeat him."

"And how does the little sorceress come into play?" the alien asked curiously, tilting their head slightly.

"She's a White Witch. She very well might be the only one who can face off against Hagger and the druids and hold her own." Shiro's eyes tightened in concern; he still didn't like the idea, but she was their only hope against the Dark Witches. And he had to admit, she was proving herself capable.

Kintak nodded understandingly. "You care for her and so you worry."

Shiro sighed, looking at his hands. "Yea….and we had a really close call recently…."

"She is quite capable." Kintak assured him.

"I know…you both keep saying that….I suppose I'd have to see her in action…." The thought made him cringe. He'd much rather her be safely tucked away, far far away from any conflict.

* * *

A few hours later, Sarah was once again seated in front of him. He had his hands in hers and was keeping very still; she was going to try and get him into the air vent with her. She was taking deep breaths, her eyes closed as she focused on her task. And then, in the blink of an eye, they were both sitting in a vent.

Peeking an eye open tentatively, clapped excitedly when she saw she was successful. "Yay-!" she began, before realising she was getting loud and slapping her hand over her mouth.

Shiro chuckled. "Okay, lead the way."

He followed her on his hands and knees through the shafts. She babbled the entire way, talking about various things she'd found or observed, some ideas she had for escaping; he loved it. But he did notice that she seemed to be dancing around something, as if she didn't want to bring it up. When they reached one of the small rooms she had told him about, he decided to get to the point.

"Sarah, why did you say earlier that you needed grenades? There's something you're not telling me, and I'd like to hear it."

She rocked back on her feet, like a child about to admit to wrong-doing. "Well….it's kind of….big." she began hesitantly. Shiro raised an eyebrow, but motioned for her to continue. "I don't have it fully worked out yet, but….I want to destroy the arena. I don't want anymore deaths in there. I want to end it."

"That….that is big." he said, taking her hands and pulling her to him. "Its also noble. And not something you can do alone." He kissed her on the head and wrapped his arms around her. "It might take more than just two of us."

Sarah nodded, leaning into him. "I can try to get more aliens out….not too many to where the Galra would start to notice…."

"Yea. We could-" he began, but was cut off by the sound of a roaring crowd. "Where are we?" he asked, frowning.

Sarah pulled away and climbed into a shaft, waving him to follow. After turning left at a junction, the noise grew louder and at the end he looked out the grate and saw the arena. In the middle was a long, thin, snake-like creature, wrapping itself around one of the four pillars. Off to one side was a small, trembling form; an alien being forced to their inevitable death. "Where do they keep finding monsters?" Sarah grumbled, before vanishing.

Shiro looked around, confused, and then saw the prisoner in the arena disappear along with another small form, who reappeared alone soon after. "No!" he cried, trying to think of a way to reach her.

"Shiro, watch." her voice commanded, drifting up to him from the arena floor. He didn't want to, but he couldn't bear to not watch, his eyes barely blinking as Sarah engaged the monster.


	32. Chapter 31

The giant snake creature actually hissed; Sarah almost laughed at the absurdity of it. "C'mon, c'mon…." she murmured, her knees bent, ready for it to strike. Finally, it lunged for her. Just before it reached her, she transported herself in a puff of smoke next to a pillar. After snapping to get its attention, it lunged for her again, and again the escaped its jaws, zipping to the other side of the arena. She goaded it around another pillar, before appearing on top of its opposite. The giant snake angrily launched itself at her, but she was already on the floor. When it dropped to the floor, she was on the opposite side of the arena. It stretched itself across, trying to reach her, but found it could not.

Sarah smugly looked over her handiwork; the giant's long body was tangled up amongst itself and the pillars. She took a moment to steady herself and focus her energy, closing her eyes. When she next opened them took a starting stance and then swung her arms down, creating a giant white slash that cut the monster to pieces. The audience erupted, the sound almost deafening. Annoyed, she transported herself to the small room she had dropped the alien in. "Stay here, okay? You'll be safe for now, just be quiet and stay here." She smiled when the alien nodded, and then transported herself to the small room she had shown Shiro.

Poking her head into the vent shaft, she said softly, "Shiro?" As her voice echoed, she heard a bang and then an "Ow!" before Shiro began hastily crawling towards her. As soon as he could stand upright, he scooped her up in his arms, hugging her tightly.

"Please…give some warning or something next time, okay?" he whispered in her ear. Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't think of the right words and so simply nodded. He pulled back, his eyes tracing every feature on her face. "I believe you now though. I….I had reservations. I'm sorry. I should have trusted you."

Sarah beamed, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss. "It's okay, really." she murmured as they rested their foreheads against each others. "I totally understand."

"That was amazing and clever." he said, gazing at her proudly.

"Thank you…" she murmured, blushing.

"So…about getting help….I think I have an idea who we could recruit."

"I'm all ears."


	33. Chapter 32

"Okay, now that we're all together." Sarah said, addressing the small team they had formed. "Mousey, what was it you heard?" The alien with large, mouse-like ears nodded. When the creature had introduced themselves, Sarah and Shiro found they couldn't pronounce the foreign alien name, and when the little witch asked if she could call them by a nickname, they approved; who were they to deny the sorceress anything?

"On the winds I hear of a Black Witch. She is drawn here by word of your deeds. There are whispers that she brings a creature of her own creation."

"What could that mean?" Kintak, the willowy, three-eyed alien asked.

"I know what it is." Shiro said grimly. "Or, I've encountered her….creations….before. It's likely to big and nasty."

"What shall we do? What does the Black Witch intend?" Mousey asked, frightened.

"Well, you guys are going to set up the explosives and wait for my signal." Sarah said, looking at the three aliens in turn. "I have a feeling Hagger is gonna throw her toy in the arena, but either way, Shiro and I will take care of it."

"But…how?" the small, meek alien Sarah had saved from the snake asked.

"Yea, I'd kinda like to hear this as well. We had real trouble with Hagger's monsters as Voltron, how are just the two of us going to take one on?" Shiro asked as he turned to face her.

"Well, as Voltron, you guys were also big. It was big versus big. There are weaknesses you can only exploit if you are a lot smaller than your opponent. Like, especially if this one's part machine…." she trailed off, waving her hands but at a loss for how to string her thoughts together.

Shiro nodded, understanding. "I get it, that's really clever."

Sarah beamed happily. "And I'd wager Hagger isn't thinking like that. She probably thinks that something she'd put up against Voltron should be enough to take me out, but she's likely to never had to think small to get out of a situation. Bigger is not always better."

"That's true. Powerful things sometimes come in very small packages." he said, tapping her nose as she giggled. "Did you have an idea of where you wanted the explosives set up?"

"Honestly….not entirely. I was hoping to confer with you guys on that." she said, looking to Shiro.

"Hmmm…." he murmured thoughtfully. "Your end goal is to totally destroy the arena, right?" Sarah nodded slowly. "Well….under the stands would probably be the best place then. It'll take out the support structure."

She frowned and tilted her head to the side. "The stands? But wouldn't there be like….people there?" Shiro nodded grimly and she caught on. "Oh…"

"War isn't clean cut." he said softly, taking her hand and squeezing it.

"I know." she sighed. "Or I should, by now." She turned her gaze to the small, meek alien. "What was your name again, love?"

"Um….Jesaya…." the creature said, trembling slightly.

"You know you don't have to be afraid of us." the small human said with a smile.

"I….I know. It's more….the location."

Sarah nodded. "I can understand that. Didn't you mention something earlier about being able to get use grenades?"

Jesaya looked between her and Shiro nervously before nodding. "I can um….it's sort of like controlling someone's actions, I suppose."

Sarah's eyes lit up as Shiro observed the small being curiously. "Would you be willing to get us a few things?"

"Um…I could try…."

* * *

"This is insane." Sarah said a few hours later, staring at their sizeable pile of supplies Jesaya had procured for them. "How'd you get so much?"

The meek alien shrugged, embarrassed by the praise. "I just…impose my will on that of another…..my desires become theirs. But they notice no change."

"That's incredible." Shiro said, inspecting the explosives. "We should be able to set these up and have them be triggered by one remote easily."

"Ha, these grenades are already on a like belt." Sarah laughed, holding up the strap lined with hand grenades.

"Do you intend to wear it as a belt?" Mousey asked, shocked.

"You bet your ass! This'll be useful against Hagger's pet."

"When shall we begin?" Kintak asked, admiring some of the blaster guns.

"Immediately." Shiro said as he stood up. "No point waiting around. Let's get to work!"


	34. Chapter 33

"Well this is sooner than expected." Sarah muttered irritably, as she and Shiro looked out at the arena together. They had been on their way to join the three aliens beneath the stands when the audience erupted oddly. In the center of the pit was a towering creature with a long snout. It had two tanks seemingly embedded in its back. These were connected by tubes to twin cylindrical contraptions, one on either side of its face.

"Yea…the timetable's moved up. Can you get a message to the others?" Shiro asked, still watching the monster.

"Yup." Sarah closed her eyes and relayed the update to the others. She also instructed them to hide until they hear the blasts, and then to find a ship to get them out of Galra territory. "Okay." she said, opening her eyes. "Shall we?" She held out her hand, smirking.

"No time like the present." Shiro replied lightly, taking her hand.

In the blink of an eye, the two were standing on the arena floor. The crowd erupted, but Sarah couldn't tell if they were cheers or jeers. Either way, it didn't matter. The monster before them roared, and then launched streams of fire from the nozzles on either side of its mouth. Sarah and Shiro ducked from the heat, but Sarah straightened up with a giddy smile. "Ohohoho…i have an idea." she said as it began lumbering towards them. "When I tell you, cut the fuel lines okay?"

"Gotcha." Shiro said, nodding.

He ran off around the edge of the pit to get behind it; Sarah made a small light show to keep its attention on her. When it got closer, she transported herself to the top of one of the pillars, adjusting her footing so she didn't slide off. When the monster found her again, she pulled three grenades off her makeshift belt and transported herself far into the air above, floating slightly by manipulating quintessence. After she managed to recapture its attention, she waited until she saw flames rushing towards her to pull the pins on the grenades and toss them up. As she began to fall, she quickly transported herself to the ground, rolling before coming to a stop on her knees. "NOW!" she yelled. She saw Shiro jumped onto the creature's back and make short work of its fuel lines. As he somersaulted off, the creature became drenched in its flammable liquid. At the same time, its stream of fire connected with her grenades and the resulting explosion shook the enter facility. The ceiling began to crumble and fall all around them. As Shiro returned, she pulled the pin on another grenade and threw it at the stumbling, confused monster. The two watched as it exploded and the creature was immediately enveloped in flames. Its screeching melted into the cacophony that had erupted in the stands, as the audience fled. Seconds later, the stands disappeared into fire and dust and smoke.

"C'mon." Shiro said, grabbing her hand. Sarah nodded and warped them out to the nearest hanger. Mousey, Kintak, and Jesaya were just entering the hanger from a hall to their right. The five made a beeline for one of the larger Galra ships. Jesaya reached it first, but came a halt when they saw the soldier coming down the ramp.

"No!" Sarah whispered, panicking slightly and trying to run faster; but she was still too far away to reach the small creature, and her eyes widened in fear as the Galra raised his weapon.

Jesaya raised her hand and said something in a strange tongue, and suddenly the soldier had dropped his weapon and was calmly leaving the hanger. When Sarah reached the little alien, she hugged them tightly. "Ohmygod I thought we were gonna lose you."

"Oh. Um…." Jesaya didn't seem to know how to respond and was rescued from a long awkward moment by Shiro.

"Everyone in, let's go." he said, gently pushing Sarah inside and waving the others in.

"Shiro, don't push me." she whined jokingly.

"Leaving so soon?" a chilling voice asked, echoing throughout the hanger despite the ongoing cacophony around them.

Shiro and Sarah shared panicked looks before looking around; the Black Witch was to their right, halfway down the hanger. "Sarah don't engage, let's just go." Shiro said, pulling her inside as the others got situated inside.

"I wasn't going to." she said, confused. "This isn't the time nor the place."

Shiro jumped into the pilot seat and, connecting his arm with the ship's system, closed the ramp and began to take off. The ship rocked suddenly as something blasted into its side.

"Pain in my goddamn ass…." Sarah muttered, closing her eyes. She focused on wrapping the ship in a quintessence barrier, making Hagger's attacks ricochet around the hanger.

"Okay I'm out." Shiro said after a moment, and she relaxed, letting the barrier go.

Curious, she looked out the front window, and her eyes widened. They had been in Zarkon's system the whole time. "Kayla…." she whispered, touching the glass. She was so close to her sister. But she knew they couldn't go in now; they wouldn't make it out alive. As Shiro navigated them out of the chaos, she sat down and reached far out with quintessence, looking for Kayla. If she could just connect, she could let her sister know that she was going to be saved. She gritted her teeth, trying not to strain herself but wanting desperately to reach Kayla. She managed to find her sister's signature and connected with it for half a second before her eyes flew open and she found herself panting.

"Sarah, you okay?" Shiro asked from the front.

"Yea….i found Kayla. She's okay…." she said, taking deep breaths. "I think…I'm gonna nap now….."

* * *

"I'm so sorry." Keith repeated after they had regrouped and docked in the castle hanger.

"Dude, its fine, everything worked out okay." Sarah said for what felt like the millionth time.

Shiro, however, was reprimanding him at the same time she was forgiving him. Sarah slinked away slightly, feeling awkward as Keith was scolded.

"I'm so relieved." Allura said, tugging her into a hug again

"You and me both. But….I don't know, I guess I just never doubted we'd get out safely." she shrugged her small shoulders. "Maybe its just the optimist in me."

"You have got to tell me everything. How did you escape? Where were you taken?"

Sarah clapped giddily. "Oh I'd love to, its so cool. Ah-" She paused as a thought came to mind. "Um….what about our friends? Can they stay or do we need to like….I don't know…." she trailed off.

"Oh well….it's a big castle….but we're going to be in danger and combat a lot…." the Princess said uncertainly. "I wouldn't mind them staying, but I think it would be fair for you to ask the others, and let them know how dangerous our missions tend to be."

Sarah nodded pensively.

"Okay, now tell me everything." Allura grabbed Sarah's hands excitedly.

"Sure thing, then you have to fill me in on what happened with Mullet." she replied, and both girls giggled. "Okay, so we were kind of sucked up, so they didn't know it was us, and then we were taken to the gladiator arena….."


	35. Chapter 34

"Okay, now you're turn, what happened with Mullet?" Sarah asked Allura after she finished telling the Princess about the arena and how they escaped.

"Turns out the Anti-Galra group he was looking for was more a band of mercenaries and cutthroats than anything. I'm sure you can imagine what happened next." the Altean said, leaning against one of Darling's inner walls.

"Boy is just a magnet for trouble." Sarah said giggling as she shook her head. "How'd you guys find him?" She spun once in her computer chair, enjoying the slight light-headed sensation that came with it.

"It was Lance and Hunk who found him, and that was probably for the best. It wasn't until everyone else was back in the castle that we found out what happened to you two." her gaze fell to the floor. "We were so scared. For a while it seemed like Pidge was going to kill Keith, the way they glared at him."

"Aww, Pidgey." She spun herself again, but stopped abruptly with her feet. "Where is Pidgey?"

"Sleeping. They….didn't sleep much these past few weeks. I was afraid to wake them when we heard from you."

"Yea, sleep is good, they might not-"

Sarah was interrupted by the Green Paladin practically screaming from somewhere in the hanger. "SHIRO!"

Both girls in Darling jumped. "I think they're awake." Sarah said, a wide smile growing on her face as the two ran down Darling's ramp. As they jogged around to the small ship's side, they saw Pidge launch themselves at Shiro, who barely caught the small Paladin.

"Oof!" he grunted as he stumbled a few steps backwards. "Hey, Pidge."

"Pidgey!" Sarah called as she and Allura approached.

Pidge scrambled out of Shiro's arms, racing towards Sarah and launching themselves at her. She didn't have as much luck maintaining her balance and fell over, laughing hard as she hugged Pidge tightly.

"I was sooo worried!" they cried, pulling back to allow Sarah to stand back up.

"Aww, I'm sorry we worried you, Pidgey." she said, hugging the Green Paladin again. "You really don't have to. We could probably get out of anything." Sarah smirked as Shiro joined her side, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. "We're like Houdini, except two people. And I'm actual magic!" she added excitedly, clapping.

"Is Houdini an Earth witch?" Coran asked, confused.

"No, he was a famous escape artist, but it wasn't real magic." Pidge answered.

"Hm. Sounds like an interesting fellow. Ah, Sarah," Coran turned, addressing her. "I escorted your friends to some spare rooms. I didn't know how long they would be staying….?"

"Ohh, yea, we need to talk to them about that. And the rest of the team. Where is the rest of the team? They were here just a bit ago."

"Lance is probably with Keith, and I believe Hunk said he wanted to cook you both something special." Allura said brightly.

"That'll be a nice reprieve from prison food." Shiro said with a chuckle. "Let's go see what he's got in store for us."


	36. Chapter 34-5

They landed the pod in a small forest clearing. The planet's star was just sinking down past the horizon, bathing the blueish-green flora in a soft pink light. What looked like swarms of fireflies hovered throughout, giving the forest a magical feel. Shiro took her hand and escorted through a part in the trees, leading the way slowly as she gazed around in awe. At one point, she stumbled slightly, not really paying attention to where she was walking; he turned and walked backwards, taking both her hands so she could continue looking around while he guided her. After a moment they reached another clearing, with a blanket spread across the floor in the center.

"Are we star gazing?" she asked, looking up through the break in the tree tops.

"Yup. C'mon." he chuckled as he led her to the blanket.

After she curled up in his arms and they got comfortable, they watched the stars reveal themselves as the sunlight receded. Several times he tried to work up his courage, fiddling with the ring in his pocket, only to mentally chicken out. Finally, he bit his lip and turned, hovering over her.

"Sarah….I love you so much. I can't imagine life without you….you've saved me so many times, in so many ways…I never knew I could be so happy. And….if you'll let me…" He pulled the angelic ring from his pocket. "I'd like to be by your side forever and do everything in my power to make you the happiest woman in the universe." Her eyes were wide and her face was beet red, or at least what he could see of it; she was hiding most of her face behind her fingers. "Will you marry me?"

She squealed, completely covering her face, but nodded. He sighed, relieved, before chuckling.

"May I have your hand, princess?" Sarah made another adorable noise before holding out her left hand. After Shiro slipped the ring on her finger, she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and almost causing him to fall over. "Are you okay…?"

"I don't know how to handle being so happy!" she whined.

He laughed and pushed them up into a sitting position before wrapping his arms around her thin frame.

"I love you." she whispered softly, sniffling slightly.

"Are you crying?"

"They're happy tears, shut up."


	37. Chapter 35

Sarah hummed as she scrolled through her phone, absentmindedly playing with her fiance's two toned hair as he rested his head in her lap. Their peaceful moment was interrupted when Allura rushed into the lounge, her dress swirling around her.

"Sarah, we've been hailed by your brother. He's requesting permission to dock and refuel in our hanger."

Sarah raised a confused eyebrow. "The fuck is he doing out here?"

"Maybe he's just dropping by to say hello?" Shiro joked as he sat up. He chuckled when she rolled her eyes. "Might as well see what he wants."

"Yea…" she sighed, following the other two out of the room.

When they reached the control room, Coran pulled her brother up on the holoscreen.

"Hey, there she is." Krisox said with a smirk. "So, do I have permission to step foot in your gleaming, divine halls or what?"

"I dunno, what do you want?" Sarah asked skeptically.

Her brother mock pouted, though it was slightly difficult to see with his large, muted eyes. Sarah one hundred percent suspected he picked that up from her and Kayla. "You don't trust me?" Sarah raised an eyebrow and he rolled his eyes. "Fine. I need your help with something. And I do need to refuel."

Sarah looked to Allura, who shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"I want to be there when he lands though." Shiro said, watching the orange alien like a hawk.

"Okay, you can dock." Sarah said as Shiro turned and headed towards the hanger. "See you in a bit."

Five minutes later, Krisox was lazily leaning against his small, sharp craft as Hunk worked on getting it fuel. Sarah, Shiro, and the other Paladins were gathered around him; Allura had preferred to stay in the control room, not feeling comfortable with the idea of being in Krisox's presence again. Sarah couldn't blame her.

"So why do you need me help?" she asked, scrutinizing her brother, her thin arms crossed over her small chest.

"There's something I need to get from home. I don't want to ask my mates cause, well…..they don't need to know where I come from. I need someone who knows Stiea K2 in and out."

Sarah tilted her head to the side, curious. "What do you need from home? I thought you didn't leave anything when you left."

"Well, that's mostly true. But I hid a few things. Can't trust Vaynov worth a shit so…." he trailed off, shrugging.

"Yea that makes sense." she nodded. "But why do you need help? Should be a simple in and out thing."

"Well if you recall, Galra kind of broke through their defenses. The place is crawling with purple bots. I need someone I trust to watch my back, someone who knows the lay of the land."

"You want her to go into Galra infested territory with you…..alone? Really?" Shiro said, watching him through narrowed eyes.

"Well….yea." Krisox replied, shrugging. "I know she can take care of herself and I know she knows the area. We wouldn't get caught."

"He has a point." Sarah said as Shiro opened his mouth to speak again. "It wouldn't take that long. We'd be in and out in a day probably."

"Okay, but I'm coming with you." Shiro insisted.

"No, Shiro, you don't know Stiea K2….it's my home, I grew up there, I know it like the back of my hand. Honestly….and for the love of all that is good and holy, please don't take offense to this…." she bit her lip before proceeding. "You'd probably slow us down more than anything. But like, not just you, everyone." she added quickly when he deflated. "Krisox and I are the only ones on this ship who can do this quickly and without being detected."

"Well you don't know that," Lance said cockily. "Some of us can be pretty stealthy when we want to be."

"Lance I don't have the patience right now, please, let the adults talk." Sarah said, harsher than she had intended. Her brother had a knack for putting her on edge and in a foul mood.

"Besides," Krisox said, smirking as he moved to place an arm around Sarah's shoulders. "It'll be good sibling bonding time!"

"Krisox, I swear to god, if you don't move your arm you are going to lose it." Sarah hissed.

* * *

Three hours later, Sarah and Krisox were in the latter's craft, well on their way to their home planet. It had taken Sarah about thirty minutes to convince Shiro that, yes, her omniphone could reach the castle from anywhere in the universe, and yes, she would talk to him frequently. She was texting him in that moment, along with the million other things she did on her phone.

"Do you ever put that thing down?" Krisox asked, slightly teasing, breaking the hour-long silence.

"I mean I don't take it into the bathroom, and it has to charge sometime." she replied seriously without looking up.

"Are you on it when you and Shiro-?"

"Is that really the kind of question you should ask?" she interrupted irritably, a slight blush forming.

Krisox laughed at her becoming uncomfortable. "Honestly, nothing's off-limits on Vaynov. Sorry if it's too…personal." He winked at her, causing her to roll her eyes.

They sank into another silence, this one awkward and heavy. When it was broken, they both jumped.

"Ha! See, I am totally stealthy." Lance said from the back of the ship.

"Lance what the fuck?!" Sarah asked incredulously.

"Totally proved you wrong. You guys didn't even know I was hiding. I can totally go on this mission." he said smugly.

"Oh my god, Lance…."

"Can I launch this one into space?" Krisox asked.

Sarah gave him a look before video-calling Shiro on her omniphone. "Hey, are you missing anyone?" she asked when he answered.

"Oh no, tell me he didn't…" Shiro said, exasperated.

"Hey, you won't let your brother actually launch me into space, will you? Cause the castle totally tried that once and-"

"Lance I will kill you with a goddamn cheese puff, sit down and shut up for right now." Sarah said sternly, causing her brother to burst into laughter.

"Can you guys turn around?" Shiro asked; Sarah looked to Krisox.

"We're like thirty earth minutes out, I'd really rather not."

"Ha! Looks like you're stuck with me." Lance said in an annoyingly cocky tone.

"Lance!" Sarah and Shiro said warningly, at the same time.

"Sheesh, mom and dad." the Paladin responded, rolling his eyes.

"You are so fucking grounded."


	38. Chapter 36

"Okay, you remember what we told you?" Sarah asked Lance as Krisox maneuvered his craft around Stiea K2′s artificial moon. The satellite functioned as a relay for all manner of signals. It boosted the outgoing wavelengths, and filtered out the universe's noise from the incoming. It also hid small craft that flew close to it from radars and scanners. They would be in the blindspot long enough to reach the planet's surface, but would have to disembark quickly.

"I shadow you and only you. I stay close. I stay quiet. I don't ask questions. I do as you tell me when you tell me." the Blue Paladin said, counting off his fingers. "Did I miss anything?"

"Not that I can think of. How's it goin, Krisox?" she asked over her shoulder as her brother began the descent.

"So far so good. I don't think I can get us to the Xeno-science district but I can get us close."

"Close works."

* * *

After they landed, Krisox activated his ship's cloaking device, making it completely disappear and masking its energy signature. When asked about the advanced technology, he winked and held a finger to his lips, smirking. Sarah rolled her eyes and dropped the subject.

They had landed in the Political Science district, which was a neighbour to their old home, the Xeno-Science District. It was smaller than most of the science sections, but it was heavily specialised and the community had become close-knit. Krisox's departure seriously shook the district to its core; there had never been any kind of rift of that nature before. But the other scientists and their families came through for Sarah's family, ceaselessly offering support and aid. The diversity of the families and their bonding spoke volumes about Stiea K2′s goal for peace and harmony throughout the universe. A noble goal Zarkon had dashed in one fell swoop.

The streets, alleys, and under-ways were deserted. The only sign of the Galra occupation was the sheer lack of any living or moving thing.

"This…..is weird?" Sarah said, unsure, as they took a shortcut through the under-way. "Did they just transport everyone off world? That's like several billion people."

"Yea, iunno…." Krisox murmured. "I know they can't have reached everyone. The Deep Slums are virtually unreachable unless you already know the way."

"Wait, that's real?"

"Uh, yea." her brother chuckled. "Not everything is pristine and perfect, doll."

"Well I mean I knew there were problems….." she trailed off, deep in thought.

They passed most of the rest of the day in a cautious silence, Lance staying true to their agreement, Sarah lost in thought, and Krisox alert, eyes looking everywhere.

As Stiea K2′s star began to sink below the horizon, they reached their old home. The multi-level building consisted of unevenly stacked compartments, all rounded edges and large, circle windows. Sarah transported herself to the other side of the front door to unlock it, and closed it behind the boys quietly.

It looked like a tornado had blown through the inside of their home; furniture was turned over, papers and debris were all over the floor, and there were shattered glass sculptures by the dining room window. With its open floor plan, they could almost see into every room downstairs, and it seemed like it was a mess throughout.

"Krisox…." Sarah said cautiously as her brother began to ascend the stairs.

"What is it?" he asked without stopping.

Lance, sensing her tone, tensed, reaching for his bayard.

"We aren't alone…."


	39. Chapter 37

"What'd you say?" Krisox asked, his voice slightly muffled. Sarah heard a door creak and her brothers footsteps directly above her. For a moment, her and Lance were quiet, listening carefully, but all they heard was Krisox rummaging through one of the rooms. "I wonder if they found and moved it." he called down to them. "You gonna come up here and-aughh!"

Without hesitation, Sarah and Lance bounded up the stairs. As they rounded the curve, they saw Krisox sprawled on his back, holding his hands up. "Hey, we mean well, we aren't Galra!" he said, slightly irritably, to the two humanoids standing over him. They were covered from head to toe in rags and mismatched armour, their faces covered by masks that made them look like giant flies. Each were holding a heavy weapon, but lowered them as one pulled their mask over their head.

"Aya?!" Krisox asked incredulously. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The pink alien had large, armour-like scales, no noticeable nose, and snake-like eyes. "Look who's talking." she said, reaching her hand to help him up. "Most of us thought you up and died." Aya's gaze moved to Sarah and Lance. "Who they?"

"The small one is my sister, Sarah. I told you about my sisters, remember?" Krisox said as he dusted rubble off him. "The other one is a Voltron Paladin."

The being still in their mask snickered. "That's a good one, Stardown." they said as they, too, removed their mask. They shook a cascade of purple tentacles out of the constraints, letting them tumble freely down their back. Their four, small eyes switched from Krisox and Aya. Their blue face faded in colour to green and then purple. "Now who is it, really?"

"I really am a Voltron Paladin!" Lance said indignantly.

"Lance, shush." Sarah hissed, elbowing him in the ribs.

"I'm being serious, Flayga. Believe it or not, Voltron's real, Alteans exist, and little Sarah here is planning an assault on Zarkon." Krisox chuckled. Aya and Flayga stared at the small human girl curiously.

"What makes a little like you think you can go against the Galra?" Aya asked skeptically.

Sarah raised an eyebrow, slightly annoyed. "Cause I can do this." she said simply, disappearing in a wisp of gray smoke and appearing behind them in the same second. The two jumped slightly, startled, but impressed.

"Mine eyes not seen a White Witch since Stardown came to us." Flayga said, closely inspecting Sarah. The strange alien grabbed her thin arm and held it close to her eyes. "Most curious."

"Uhhh…" Sarah started, uncertainly, looking to her brother.

"Flayga, that's what humans would call an invasion of personal space." he said, smirking with his eyes.

"I know not human customs, I care not human customs." they said, not pausing in their inspection.

"Krisox, why do they keep calling you Stardown?" Sarah asked in the hopes of diverting Flayga's attention. It didn't work.

"Cause of my colouring. They said I looked like what humans call a sunset."

"Where are you from?" Lance asked Flayga, hoping to relieve Sarah of the curious alien's eyes. This didn't work, either.

"Flayga, release, you make her uncomfortable." Aya said sternly. Flayga dropped Sarah's arm reluctantly, allowing Sarah to scurry back to her former position next to Lance. "We are of the Lost Girls of the Deep Slums. After the Galra came and took all they could, they moved to the Sports Sector. We scavenge now. But must be wary of Galra scouts. They know of Deep Slums, but cannot find."

"Since your scavenging in our old house, could I ask what you've procured?" Krisox asked casually.

"We no find your treasure if that is what you are asking." Aya said, smirking. "We look for food, cloth, useful items. Your item is not useful to us."

"Oh well. I'll go look in the labs then, maybe mom and dad found it and moved it there…" he mused.

"What the fuck even are you looking for?" Sarah asked, tilting her head.

"That's for me to know and you to not give a shit about." he said airily.

"Whatever." she grumbled, rolling her eyes. "I can at least get what I came for."

"Stardown," Flayga began, as Sarah skirted past them. "Scout patrols are regular. One will be here soon. You remember how to come down?"

As Sarah entered Kayla's room, she left the door open so she could listen. She didn't hear her brother respond but got the feeling he had nodded, as the two strangers descended the stairs. Sarah found what she was looking for on Kayla's bed; her blanket and plush dog. When they had been taken from Earth, the girls had managed to bring with them two possessions each; it was of utmost importance that she keep her sister's possessions safe. She grabbed a back bag that had been strewn on the floor and stuffed the blanket and the dog inside before sliding it onto her shoulders.

"So, you want to explore the labs?" she asked, leaving her sister's room.

"Yup. You sure you wanna come? They're really dark what with the power turned off…." Krisox said, teasing her; she had a well known fear of the dark.

"I'll be okay, I have my phone on me." she said stiffly.

"Let's get going then." her brother chuckled.


	40. Chapter 38

Sarah and Krisox stopped bickering when they entered the underground laboratory. The complex was massive, and was where all Xeno-scientists conducted research and experiments. Each scientist was connected to the subterranean labyrinth via their home's basement; it was more efficient than them having to leave their house to go to work. Sarah remembered when she was first led through the labs. The intimidating gray, steel walls seemed to tower over her and her sister. She vividly remembered being told to stay quiet, as even slightest noise could echo tremendously. They only stayed in the observation room for two days, and their adoptive parents only ever left the girls' side to use facilities or check up on Krisox.

As they passed through the eerily ajar heavy steel door, Sarah told Lance in a low whisper to be as quiet as possible. They didn't know if the Galra scouts routes were above ground or below, or possibly both.

The stark gray halls were black as pitch, requiring the three to turn on their phones' lights to illuminate the way. The usually pristine halls were in utter disarray, with papers scattered everywhere and various equipment shattered on the ground.

"Damn…" Krisox murmured softly. "I guess everyone thought they could barricade themselves in." His fingers grazed a wall decorated with black scorch marks. "I don't think it went well."

"I don't want to think about that right now." Sarah whispered, trying to fight the feeling of dread rising in her core. Krisox simply nodded, seemingly lost in thought. "Where do you think they might've put it?"

"First guess would be the earth observation room."

"You said xeno-science earlier, what is that?" Lance asked.

"Alien species." Sarah answered after sharply shushing him. "A xeno-biologist would study the biology of various races. A xeno-archaeologist would study the history. Now keep your voice down, sound echoes like a bitch down here."

The three spent the next half hour mostly in silence, treading carefully over the debris. The ceiling had collapsed in some parts, requiring them to carefully squeeze through a mess of steel, wires, and dirt. They turned a corner into a smaller hallway lined with doors and windows. Sarah could barely see through the dust and debris, but thought she saw an un-moving alien form in one. She backed away, startled and horrified, and kept her gaze strictly forward from then on.

"Here we are." Krisox whispered after a long silence. Sarah was quite impressed by Lance being able to stay quiet for so long. Maybe I won't ground him. "Aw shit the door's kind of stuck." Krisox heaved himself against it; the sliding door budge slightly, and after a few more tries it gave.

The room was mostly as she remembered it; it was set up to resemble a human child's bedroom; it had two small beds, each with a nightstand and a small lamp, a book case full of picture books and toys, and a chest at the end of each bed. However, everything was now covered in a fine layer of dust and debris spilled out of the ceiling in one corner. The once bright and colourful walls now had a dull gray filter. Krisox began rummaging through the chests, pulling out old toys and clothes that had once been hers or Kayla's. Sarah tried not to feel guilty for the abandoned toys.

"It's not here either." Krisox sighed in frustration, straightening up. "I guess we could try-"

He cut himself off as a distant sound found its way to them. Marching footsteps. A gruff voice. The siblings looked to each other, wide eyed. They hurried out to rejoin Lance in the hall. The sounds were coming from where they had come from; they needed to find an alternate route. "Stay close." she whispered to Lance who nodded. The three jogged quietly further down the hall and then onto an even smaller one.

They were making good, safe progress, when suddenly Lance tripped and fell, making a loud crash as he toppled over a table trying to regain his balance. He created even more noise when he cried out in revulsion and fear. Turning around, Sarah saw he had tripped over a corpse. She rushed over, pulling him up and towing him along, all the while trying to keep his mind off the dead body and keep her sheet white face out of view.

The cacophony hadn't gone unnoticed. They heard several pairs of feet running, and even closer was a beeping noise, stalking them like a camouflaged predator.

"Shit…." Krisox muttered, taking a left where Sarah had expected a right. "Over here!" he hissed, prying up a floor tile. Beneath it was a large, wide tube that sloped into darkness.

"Krisox what the fu-"

"Just get in!"

Lance slid in first, quickly disappearing. Sarah held her brother's gaze for a moment, before nodding and slipping in, feet first. Everything turned to black, and somewhere ahead of her she heard Lance whooping and hollering like he was on a ride. Sarah felt very alone and very scared not being able to see, so she squeezed her eyes shut and covered them; it helped somehow. An unexpected change in degree of the slope startled her, making her squeak, as she caught some airtime before landing hard against the now steeper tube. It wasn't long before she felt it even out and herself slowing as a result. Daring to peek between her fingers she saw a light at the end. Shadows moved across it, causing it to flicker. She slowed to a halt a little bit before the light and froze, unsure of what to do next. Who were those people at the end? Where was she?

"Sarah, it's cool, come on out." Lance said from the light. Hesitantly she did, and found herself in the presence of Aya and Flayga, among others.

Behind her she heard ecstatic hollering that grew closer and closer until her brother rolled out smoothly. Straightening up he beamed. "Welcome to the Deep Slums, sister dear!"


	41. Chapter 39

Sarah couldn't help but stare all around them. The Lost Girls were being very hospitable, providing space for her, Krisox, and Lance to stay for a short period of time. The three were not permitted in the lower levels, however; Aya explained that Uptops had to go through a rigorous series of tests and inspections before they were allowed to join the general population of the Deep Slums. The Lost Girls acted as a sort of military defense force for those who lived below ground. They were a diverse mixture of species and genders, each trained in various combat roles. Before the Galra, they had mostly just made supply runs to the surface. Now, they did that, and attacked Galra encampments and outposts. Flayga said they hoped to one day be able to free people from imprisonment, but they weren't quite there yet.

"We no have numbers. We take out scouts but they an army surrounding Stieans." they said sadly.

"I mean, you might be surprised." Sarah brightly. "From what I've seen most Galra forces are robots. Get in a few EMP bursts, and then you only have a handful of actual Galra to worry about."

Flayga stared curiously at her; it felt like her four small eyes were peering into her soul. Sarah shifted uncomfortably. "How do you have thoughts such as these."

"I…..uh…" Sarah began unsteadily. "I just…..I don't know….imagine hypothetical scenarios and plan for them….?" The girl shrugged, not really sure how to explain herself.

The curious alien tilted their head, their purple tentacles swaying. Their face rotated through the colour wheel as they appraised the small human.  
"Aya!" they called suddenly, without breaking their gaze away from Sarah. "This one has ideas."

"What ideas?" Aya asked as she trotted over. Krisox looked up from a map of the surrounding districts he had been going over with Aya, his puzzled gaze following her. Lance, of course. was off flirting somewhere.

"Uhm…well I just uh…." Sarah started after Flayga gestured for her to speak. "I said you could take out a lot of Galra forces with some EMP bursts. They're mostly robots. After that, you'd just have to deal with a handful of Galra soldiers. If you put together some strike teams and coordinate your attacks, you're very likely to succeed."

Aya's eyes widened in surprise and she shared a meaningful look with Flayga. "Little Witch," she began after turning her attention back to Sarah. "Do you know any weapons?"

"Uh….not particularly, no….."

"Flayga, take her. Give her the long-shooter. Teach her." Aya said before walking back to Krisox and the map.

Flayga took Sarah's hand and led her to the hall. "What are you doing with my sister?" she heard Krisox ask, confused and curious.

"We train her." she heard Aya say before she was out of earshot.

The strange, colourful alien led Sarah to a long room that looked like a firing range. Flayga let go of her hand and disappeared into an automatic sliding door. A moment later, she came back with what looked like a Galran sniper rifle. Without warning, she dropped it in Sarah's hands; she almost fell.

"Careful, Little Witch."

"You didn't have to drop it like that, it's really heavy…." Sarah said irritably.

Flayga ignored her commented and turned her to face the far wall, which was covered in targets and scorch marks. They spent the next few minutes moving Sarah as though she were a ball-jointed doll, setting up her positioning and holding of the gun. After the alien was satisfied, they described each part of the rifle in detail, while simultaneously walking her through displaying their function.

At the end of the hour, she hadn't even fired a shot, but she didn't mind too much. The weapon was heavy and menacing in her slender hands. She was terrified of actually firing it, but knew that was coming sooner rather than later.

Sure enough, Flyaga took a step back and nodded. "Look through scope. Take shot. Target not matter right now."

"Uhm…..okay…." Sarah said uncertainly. It was a bit difficult to look through the scope at the far wall with her glasses, but did her best. Her eyes tried to give her double vision, but she actively focused on what the right eye was perceiving. When she figured she had a good enough view, she took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

The recoil almost knocked her over backwards. But it was the utter volume of the rifle firing that caused her to clamp her hands over her ears, whimpering. Flayga had quick reflexes; they caught the gun half a second after Sarah dropped it.

"What is matter?" they asked, leaning the rifle against the nearest wall. "Loud?"

Sarah nodded shakily; she had been afraid of loud noises ever since she was a child on Earth. She distinctly remembered hiding in her parents car whenever they wanted to watch fireworks.

Flayga smiled reassuringly. "Fear not Little Witch. Noise no hurt you. I find you ear covers."

The alien stepped back through the automatic sliding door. Cautiously, Sarah removed her hands from her ears. She felt stupid for not thinking about it earlier; all guns made noise and most of them were loud. But she had been so focused on Flayga's teachings it hadn't crossed her mind. A moment later Flayga returned with what looked like a gray headset. She slipped the large earpieces over Sarah's ears, and suddenly everything was silent. She hadn't noticed the hum of machinery or the gentle commotion of people as the moved about. Now all she could hear was her soft heartbeat. Flayga mimed holding the gun and firing, and Sarah nodded, picking it up from the wall. She resumed the position, with Flayga adjusting her here and there, and once more fired.

She braced for the recoil, preventing it from making her lose her footing, and found that all she heard as barely audible 'bang'. She turned to Flayga and smiled. The alien returned the smile and slid the headset off.

"You learn with this now. Sounds not so loud."

Sarah nodded, positively beaming. I'm learning something that'll help in the war! she thoughht happily. I'm not just magic anymore; I'm more.


	42. Chapter 40

Sarah spent the majority of the next few days under Flayga's tutelage. The colourful alien trained her in the shooting range and above ground on Galra scout sentries. She wasn't the best shot in the world, but she was improving every day.

Sarah hadn't really spoken to Aya since the day she told Flayga to teach her, and so didn't have many opportunities to ask her about her motivations. As the days passed, the small human grew frustrated with this lack of communication. Her mentor wouldn't comment, keeping their conversations strictly on learning to shoot. It didn't help that she only ever caught glimpses of Krisox; he was always deep in conversation with Aya and a few other serious looking aliens. She shared a room with Lance, if you could call it such; it was really just a cubicle formed by flimsy tarps stretched over pipes, with two cots taking up almost the entire space. When it had first been set up for her and Lance Aya said they usually didn't section off space, as there wasn't much and the Lost Girls shared it, but as they were not used to such open accommodations they were given a private space. For now.

"And I really can't even send morse code." Sarah asked Flayga, though it was more of a statement. The two were on the roof of a home in the AstroPhysics district as Sarah practised shooting distant sentries. She had been told that they couldn't send signals out, as it would alert the Galra to their location. She just didn't understand why she couldn't send something simple and then return to the Deep Slums immediately after. But Flayga refused to bend.

"No, Little Witch!" they said irritably. "Too risky. Take the bot to the left." They peered through specialised binoculars, giving Sarah targets for her to try and hit dead on.

Though Sarah wasn't one for conflict, she grew more and more annoyed with the situation and found herself unwilling to hide it. Nonetheless, she looked through the scope and after some adjusting shot its arm off.

"Good, but you want head."

Sarah scowled but tried again, taking a bit more time to make sure she hit the mark. It wasn't the center of the robots head, but it was still its head and Flayga seemed happy with it.

"I just want to get a message to my fiance saying we're okay, he and our friends are probably worried sick."

"If Little Witch does not drop this I will take phone and break it." Flayga growled, causing Sarah to recoil.

Sarah pouted as they wrapped up and returned to the underground sanctuary. The two walked in an irritable silence for most of the return trip. "Can I at least see my brother?" she asked after a long while.

"I shall see." Flayga sighed. Sarah got the feeling the colourful alien hadn't had much experience with the stubbornness of humans.

When they reached the main hub for the Lost Girls they found Flayga didn't need to fetch Krisox; he and Aya were waiting for them.

"What's up…." Sarah asked suspiciously.

"We like your plan." Aya said, smiling. "We put it in motion tomorrow."

"My….what?" Sarah asked, confused.

"The EMP burst thing." Krisox explained. "You were just spit ballin' but they've gone and taken it seriously."

Sarah blinked, surprised. "Oh….okay. Was that why you had Flayga teach me how to use the long-shooter?"

Aya nodded. "You and Flayga take bots that still stand." She motioned for Flayga and Krisox to follow her. "Sleep well Little Witch. Be ready."

* * *

Sarah was nervous most of the next day. She had only barely started learning how to use a gun and now she was being thrown into combat with it, though she was rather far from the actual combat itself. The plan was to have the EMP devices burst at the same time; they had been put in place around the stadium, where most of the Galra forces were situated, earlier in the day. Each had been programmed with a timer, scheduled to go off as the sun set. Between then and the present, five strike teams had maneuvered into place to be ready to attack once the sentries were down. The team leaders were connected via comm units to each other, Flayga, Sarah, and one other sniper. Krisox was a leader, with Lance part of his team. She wasn't at all comfortable with the situation, but found herself mostly powerless to change any part of the plan.

"They go soon." Aya's voice crackled in her ear. Sarah peered through her gun's scope, following the movements of various robots that marched around the perimeter. Aya had estimated that most of the robots both inside and outside the stadium would be taken down by the bursts, but wanted eyes watching over the attack just in case.

When the EMP devices activated, Sarah jumped. Almost in the blink of an eye, what looked like a dome of electricity consumed the stadium, and then was gone. The sentries fell, twitching as some short-circuited. As the strike teams launched into action, Sarah scanned the perimeter for any Galra movement. She didn't see any stirring from the fallen bots, but heard another sniper take a shot. Soon the teams disappeared inside, and all Sarah heard was shooting and grunts and yelling.

A few minutes after the teams had entered, Flayga noticed a few Galra troops storming inside. It occurred to her that the plan hadn't accounted for the other Galra posts, and she began to look around frantically for any sign of approaching Galra. But she didn't see anything. It was then that she noticed flashes of light from a building a few blocks away from her. Squinting her eyes, she could just make out a few Lost Girls crawling through it, and she realised Aya must have planned that as well and purposefully withheld information from all parties. Sarah couldn't blame her; an earth saying did state you don't want all your eggs in one basket. Is that it? Or am I thinking of don't count your chickens before they hatch…..

"Sarah, you read?" her brother asked, breaking her from her thoughts. She peered through her scope again, scanning the stadium. There wasn't a lot going on on the outside and she didn't hear as much gunfire as she had earlier.

"Yea. Is it over already?" she asked, frowning; if that was the case it had been too easy.

"No. Lance got hit. He's fine but I'm getting us out and I'll swing by and get you too-"

"No, Stardown, she stay!" she heard Aya hiss.

"I'm getting my sister, Aya." Krisox said fiercely. This surprised her; she had never known her brother to be like that. At least, not with her.

A few moments later she heard the whirring of a hover bike and looked up from her scope. When her eyes found her brother approaching, she stood up, slinging the rifle over her shoulder; she figured she'd have a chance to return it to the Lost Girls later after they took care of Lance.

The bike whipped the wind around her as he descended low enough for her to climb on. It was an awkward seating situation but she managed. Krisox rose up and headed towards their old home, the roofs of various buildings flashing past beneath them.

A purple break in all the gleaming white and gray caught her eye. Krisox made to skirt around the Galra officer, but he had reacted too late; they were still within range of his throw. The grenade hit the bottom of the bike, causing it to flip in the air. Sarah felt herself be launched high in the air, losing all sense of direction; she couldn't tell what was up and what was down. Everything was a blurry white mess until she hit something heavy and suddenly everything was black.


	43. Chapter 41

Krisox and Lance tumbled onto a lower roof as the hover bike crashed onto a roof just above them. When the dust settled, Krisox realised he didn't see his sister.

"Sarah?!" he called frantically as Lance came to and pushed himself up.

"What happened?" he asked, leaning against the wall of the building next to them.

"Bastard hit us with a grenade." Krisox hissed, standing up to get a better look around. He still couldn't see where his small sister had landed. He couldn't think why she wouldn't have landed with them, but she was so light….

"Aw, shit…." Lance muttered. The Dularian spun around as the Galra officer and his handful of robots landed on the roof, having jumped across the narrow alley. Krisox gritted his teeth; he didn't see a way out of this one.

The Galra began to speak, but a gunshot rang out, cutting him off. One of his sentries fell backwards, a fresh hole in their head sparking. Before any of them had a chance to look around, another shot rang out. Krisox looked at the sentries, expecting another to fall, but to his great surprise it was the Galra officer who collapsed. Thinking quickly, he took the appropriate stance and through the remaining sentries into the alley using White Magic.

"Whoa, you can do that stuff too?" Lance asked in amazement.

"Yea, well, it was a family thing…." Krisox murmured, nudging the limp Galra. "Who-?"

"Duh." a voice said.

He jumped when Sarah materialised next to him, sliding her rifle back over her shoulder. "What happened to the others?"

"You idiot, you gave me a heart attack." he scolded, playfully punching her arm. In truth, he was so relieved she was okay he wanted to hug her tightly. But that would raise questions from her he didn't feel like answering.

"He did that magic shit!" Lance said enthusiastically.

"Magic shit? White magic?" Sarah asked surprised.

"Yea, our parents taught me, too. Or did you forget?"

"I didn't think…I just….whatever." she grumbled, staring at the deceased Galra.

Krisox knew that look. Her eyes were unfocused and wide; while she was physically present, mentally she was miles away, lost in thought. It didn't take a xeno-neuroscientist to figure what was on her mind. "Hey," he started softly, gently grabbing her by the shoulders so she'd turn her attention to him. "You did good. Okay? We likely wouldn't be here if you hadn't taken the shot." She winced, her gaze sinking to the ground. Krisox sighed. He didn't really know what to do or say; Kayla was always the one with the right words. "Let's…let's get back to the Deep Slums, yea?"

* * *

A few hours after they had made it back, Aya and Flayga returned with a few others and approached the three. Aya was clearly furious, but was keeping a cool head with Flayga's help. After she dismissed the others, she crossed her arms over her plated chest and glared at Krisox.

"You could have endangered many." she growled.

"Well, it looks like everything turned out okay." he replied airily. "Or am I mistaken and the great and selfless Aya leave her forces to suffer?" He smirked when she scowled.

"It over now. Galra gone or round up."

"What do you mean it's over? There's the rest of the planet we have to worry about." Sarah interjected, frowning in confusion. She looked from Flayga to Aya to Krisox as the latter caught her eye and shook his head, smiling mischievously.

"This was a planet-wide coordinated attack. The Deep Slums span most of the planet and they're divided up just like the surface dwellings. Aya took your idea and hammered it out into a solid plan with the rest of the Slum leaders." he explained.

"Whoa." she whispered, her eyes wider than ever, if that was possible.

"Congratulations, sister dear! You aided a planet wide coup."

"But like…won't the Galra just send reinforcements to take it back?"

"Not if they never find out." he replied with a wink.

"We reprogram bots, so they work for us." Flayga said, hands on their hips. "Galra call, bots answer, they no suspect."

"Whoa that's genius." Sarah giggled. After a second her eyes lit up. "Can I have one? And are there any of those droids?"

Aya looked to Krisox, who shrugged; he had no idea what she wanted them for.

"I don't see why the fuck not, eh, Aya?" he asked, grinning.

Aya rolled her eyes. "Yes, Little Witch, you may have what you ask." She and Flayga walked away, talking quietly amongst themselves, as Sarah clapped giddily.

* * *

"Okay, I can maybe understand the robot and the two droids, but the food synthesizer?" Krisox asked, exasperated, as Sarah heaved the machine, which was about the size of a human microwave, into his now crowded ship.

"One of the droids is a gift for Pidgey. Rover 2.0 or whatever they feel like naming it." she said, pushing the food appliance into a cubby. "The food synthesizer is for Legman. He can program it to make whatever food he wants, however he wants." She straightened up, placing her hands on her tiny hips. "They've taken such great care of Darling, I figured I'd get them presents."

"Whatever." he sighed.

"Man, this was a great adventure. We're like the Three musketeers!" Lance said, lounging in the copilot seat.  
Krisox caught a glimpse of Sarah rolling her eyes, but she smiled. "Hey, Krisox, we never did find….whatever it was you were looking for."

"Oh yea…." Sarah said, as she shuffled things around in his storage compartments to make room for the droids. "Are we just giving up on that or-" The two males looked up when she cut herself off, staring deep into one of the higher compartments. She reached inside, her entire arm disappearing as she fought against her short stature to reach whatever it was she had found. She rose as high up on her tip toes as she could, her tongue jutting out from the corner of her mouth. After a moment of her being absolutely adorable, she pulled out a small box. "Is this it?" she asked, a slight smirk playing on her lips.

Krisox looked inside the box; there were his precious, mint condition action figurines. "Son of a _BITCH!_ "


	44. Chapter 42

When they landed back in one of the castle's hangers, Sarah was the first one out of Krisox's small craft. She ran up to Shiro and flung herself at him; he caught her and spun her around once before bringing them to a stop and kissing her passionately.

"You said you'd keep in contact." he accused, resting his forehead against hers. He sounded more relieved than mad, and that made Sarah relax.

"I know, I totally meant to. We kind of got involved in a rebellion, and this one person threatened to break my phone." she said, pouting at the end. Shiro laughed, stroking her cheek, and she felt warm, fuzzy feelings swell inside her. "Oh, before I forget," she began as Hunk, Allura, and Pidge joined them. "Lance, can you get the food synthesizer?" Sarah asked as returned to Krisox's ship.

"Uh, yea." He seemed slightly uneasy, and she supposed it was because he had stowed away. She made a mental note to tell Shiro and Allura that he had been exceedingly well-behaved while on Stiea K2. She pulled out one of the droids and ran back to the group, with Lance heaving the appliance behind her.

"Okay, so as thanks for you guys taking such great care of Darling, I got a droid for Pidgey to play with and a food synthesizer for Hunk!" Sarah passed the droid over to Pidge as Hunk inspected the appliance. "You can program it to make virtually any meal or food or-anything!" she said excitedly as her friends ooh'd and aah'd over their gifts.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Shiro and Allura reprimanding Lance. As awkward as she found those situations, she needed to let them know that he'd done well, despite the initial infraction.

"….and I hope you remember this the next time you feel the urge to do something foolhardy to prove yourself." Allura said sternly.

"Hey, don't be super hard. He did really well." Sarah said, joining their little group. "He did as I said, didn't make too much ruckus….I was really impressed." she said brightly.

"Still," Shiro began, in total Dad Mode. "He shouldn't have stowed away in the first place."

"I know. And he does, too. Right, Space Son?" she asked teasingly.

Lance smiled appreciatively, and opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Krisox.

"Hey, you want the other droid and the bot or are those my toys, now?"

Sarah scowled. "Of course I want them."

"Then get them out of my ship, I have an organisation to run."

* * *

"They taught you how to use a sniper rifle." Shiro stated in disbelief a few hours later, after Sarah had recounted the adventure.

"Well….yea…." she shrugged. She didn't really know why Aya had insisted on her learning that particular weapon, or even any weapon at all, but what was done was done. "Aya like vaguely explained why but…." she trailed off.

Shiro seemed to become lost in thought, kissing the top of her head as he stared off at nothing in particular.

"So, they really took back the planet?" Allura asked from the couch opposite them. She was leaning forward, her elbows resting on her knees. "That's incredible! That could really help our efforts."

Sarah blinked; that hadn't even occurred to her. "Oh yeah….They'll probably want to stabilise things before joining outright war…."

"Of course, but I meant for other planets under Galra rule. If word spreads to other civilisations….it could give them the hope they need to push back. Because Stiea K2 did it completely without Voltron."

"Oh, that is a good point." Sarah said thoughtfully. "Though I hope it doesn't spread so much that the Galra learn what's up."

"That's really clever of them." Shiro said, coming back to the present.

"I shouldn't be surprised, Stiea K2 was like full of scientists and engineers and intellectuals. It seems obvious in hindsight that the Deep Slums would consist of absurdly smart people, too." Her thoughts drifted to her sister, who had some difficulty adjusting to the culture. She wasn't smart in the obvious, traditional intellectual way; her genius resided in emotions and generosity and how to take care of one's body. Krisox shared that with Kayla, in a way; he hadn't exhibited skill in the sciences, maths, literature, or the arts. His particular brand of intelligence didn't come to light until he had left the family and somehow united over a dozen criminal gangs under one banner.

"Hey, what are you thinking?" Shiro asked softly; she must have zoned out. Sarah spent so much time in her head she hardly noticed.

"Just….." she frowned, trying to find the right words. "It was kind of weird….he seemed to care….?" Sarah trailed off lamely, but Shiro nodded, understanding.

"I'm sure he always has on some level. You always get in a bad mood around him, maybe you don't notice….?"

"What does he do that makes you irritable?" Allura interjected, curious. "Teasing and….crime boss aside…."

Sarah bit her lip. She had spent years trying to understand this very thing, and she thought she was close to an answer. "I think…maybe….and I'm not one hundred percent sure on this….I think maybe cause as a kid…..Kayla's always been instantly lovable. I was quiet and kept to myself and just didn't interact much. But I think on some level it upset me that he didn't like….like me like he did Kayla." She leaned her head against Shiro's shoulder as his arm around her waist pulled her closer to him.

Allura smiled gently. "That sounds perfectly valid to me. Have you considered talking to him about it?"

Sarah shook her head. "I'm still like…reflecting on it. This is a fairly recent development."

"I think it'd be good for both of you to work it out."

The small human nodded, her thoughts drifting again. "Oh! He did magic, white magic."

"He can do that too?" Shiro asked, surprised.

"Yea it was a family tradition sort of thing…we were all taught the basics. I just never knew he pursued it beyond that."

"Can't hurt to have another White Witch, can it?" Allura prompted.

Sarah shrugged. "I suppose not."


	45. Chapter 43

"Okay, so we reverse engineered our bayards, to figure out how they work." Pidge said excitedly, Hunk by their side almost bouncing in giddiness, hiding something behind him. "And we thought it'd be a good idea to see if we could make one. Help us understand Altean technology and such."

"And as thanks for your awesome gifts…" Hunk said, bringing his hands around so Sarah could see the pink device he was holding. "We thought we'd try and make you a bayard and we did, we were successful!"

Sarah gasped. "You guys! You didn't have to do that!" She gently took it from his open hands, staring at it in awe as she turned it over in her hands. "It's so pretty!" she squealed, jumping up and down. She jumped at Pidge and Hunk, pulling both them into a hug.

"We weren't really sure what weapon to give you, but we went with a sniper rifle since you learned that on Stiea K2." Pidge said after she released them, adjusting their glasses. "Give it a try!"

"Alrighty…" Sarah said smiling. Her eyes widened in delight as she watched it transform in her hands. The resulting rifle required two hands but was surprisingly light. It had pink and purple accents and what looked like an LED screen for the scope. "THIS IS SO COOL!"

"What's cool?" Shiro asked, entering the hanger. He came to a startled stop when she spun around, modeling her new bayard.

"Pidge and Hunk made this for me!" she giggled as it returned to its former shape through light and sparkles. "Oh my god it is so me."

Shiro shook his head, but couldn't hide his grin. She was adorably lethal in more than one way now.

* * *

They landed on a mostly uninhabited planet to stretch their legs and do a few training drills. Sarah took the opportunity to practise with her bayard. Having the screen to look at for the scope helped her immensely; she had to have her glasses on at all hours because otherwise the world looked like a really blurry Monet painting.

While Coran drilled the Paladins, Sarah and Allura sat on a low, rocky outcropping, Allura picking out targets with her binoculars and Sarah trying to hit them dead on. It took some time to get used to the weapon, as it was lighter and more streamlined than the one Flayga had given her to use. In between target suggestions, Allura asked Sarah about Stiea K2, finding the planet and its courageous inhabitants fascinating.

The two lost track of time, only realising such when Coran contacted them over their comms. "Whoops." Allura laughed, rising to her feet.

"The sky getting dark probably should have tipped us off." Sarah giggled, her bayard transforming into its handle form. Standing up, she dusted some dirt off her skirt, and the two began walking back to the castle. Sarah entertained Allura by sharing in greater detail the end of her brother's mission.

"It was in his ship the whole time?" the Altean asked through chuckles. "That's hilarious. Probably don't tell Shiro though, he might kill him."

"Yea that's why I kind of glossed over it earlier." Sarah said, smirking. "No point in-"

A loud boom and the streak of falling light announced the arrival of a Galra vessel. It crashed to the ground just beyond a low mountain range, throwing up a large cloud of dust.

"Oh no, not another one…." Allura murmured, worry creasing her features. The girls ran the rest of the way to the castle. The Paladins had formed Voltron by the time the two made it to the control room. "Do we have a visual on it?" Allura asked Coran.

"Yes, Princess." he said, pulling up a live feed of the Galra monster. To Sarah it looked like a cyborg Cthulhu.

"How do they keep finding us?" Allura muttered. "Coran, make a note, we need to scan the ship and the lions for any kind of tracking device. Maybe Sendak hid one when he took over."

Sarah bit her lip, fidgeting as Voltron engaged the huge beast. She didn't like watching these battles, as her anxiety increased anytime the god-like robot took a hit. "Allura I….I think I could start scanning the castle from Darling."

The Princess opened her mouth to speak but when she saw how nervous the small human was she simply nodded.

If she didn't see it she could fall back on her faith that all would turn out okay. Though some would say Sarah's idealistic, optimistic nature had no place in war-time, she refused to waver; she had been on the other side of the tracks. She wasn't going back.

Darling's computer booted up when she sat in her chair, and after some browsing she found the ship's surveillance channel and connected to it. She didn't actually know if she could scan the ship for much of anything, but it was better than watching the battle. It didn't help that she could feel the ground shake every time one of the giants took a blow.

She pulled up one of the search algorithms Pidge had created and input the appropriate terms. As it went through the castle's database, she checked Darling's software to see if she just so happened to have anything that tracked outgoing signals. She did, and after running that program, she scowled; of course it had hundreds of results, she was sending outgoing signals virtually every minute. Sarah explored the program and managed to find a few parameters she could alter to narrow down the search. There were still a couple hundred results, but she could tell which were from the control room and altered the parameters once more to exclude those.

The results confused her; there were just over a hundred, but their frequency was erratic, all of them seemed garbled, and their point of origin was different for every entry. "What the hell…." she murmured, furrowing her brow.

A flash of light from another open window caught her attention; she brought the window to the front. The database search had also gone through the feeds from the Paladin's helmets; for some reason one of the results it brought up was the first time Shiro used his Galra hand in combat. Half a second later, Sarah gasped. "No…" she whispered in horror.


	46. Chapter 44

Sarah didn't notice just how much time had passed. She was so engrossed in her task that everything else was subtle background noise that she didn't pay attention to. She was a little over halfway through matching the strange signals with seemingly sudden Galra attacks. It wasn't easy, and sifting through the massive amount of data was straining her eyes. She didn't notice that, either.

She jumped when someone knocked on Darling's open hatch. "Hey, sorry." Shiro said, removing his helmet. "Didn't mean to startle you. What're you working on?" He moved to stand behind her chair, leaning on its back.

"Oh, uh…" she blinked, trying to move herself from one state of mind to another; she had been so wrapped up in her own head, she needed a small moment to bring herself out. "I scanned for outgoing signals within the past year, cause Allura thought maybe Sendak slipped a tracker onto the castle when he took over. I had to majorly adjust the parameters to filter out all of my, um shit." she finished somewhat lamely, gesturing to her phone.

"Hadn't thought about that." he nodded. "Did you find anything after that?"

"I had to filter out the castle's stuff too, and yea, after I did that I found this really weird signal. It's so erratic and garbled, I can't figure it out. We have the dates at least, and I'm trying to match that with the castle's surveillance database. See if any of the more random attacks happened in the same time-frame."

"That sounds like quite the arduous task." he commented, raising an eyebrow.

"Yea…" Sarah sighed. "I'm only about halfway through. Oh," She sat up and turned to face him. "How'd it go? The um…." Sarah waved in the direction of where the monster crashed. "the Cthulhu looking motherfucker."

"We defeated it easily enough." Shiro said, laughing. "I think we're about to take off, Allura doesn't want to hang around for too long." Sure enough, they felt the ship rumble as its rockets roared to life. "Do you want any help? I can see if Pidge is free." he offered.

"I could use Pidgey, yea. They might be able to do this more efficiently."

Shiro chuckled and kissed the top of her head. "I'll go find them then."

"Oh yea, I think I can get something up and working for you." Pidge said a few moments later.

"That would be a massive help." Sarah groaned, leaning back in her chair and stretching.

"Okay well you two have fun, I'm gonna see if Keith's up for a sparring session." Shiro said, waving as he disembarked.

Sarah waited a few moments, Pidge's rapid typing on their laptop filling the air, before speaking. "Pidgey, you left your helmet in your lion or something, right?"

"Yea….?" Pidge asked, confused. Their eyes widened when they looked up and saw Sarah's intense expression. "What's up?"

"This does not leave here." she whispered. "I don't know if I'm right and I'd rather not cause a panic if there isn't one." Pidge stopped typing, closing their laptop; the small Paladin gave the small human their full attention. "I was matching up the signals and….do you think….is it possible there might be a tracking device in Shiro's Galra arm?"

Pidge's eyes grew wide. "Oh my god….I mean anything's possible."

Sarah nodded grimly. "Could you make something could scan for it? But in a non-suspicious way."

"I think so…Let me finish this and then give me a day." they said, reopening their laptop. "If that isn't it…." Sarah nodded. "What….what do we do if that is it?" Pidge asked after a long silence.

Sarah furrowed her brow, thinking. Shiro would want it removed or disabled, even it meant disabling his arm completely. "First off we see if there's a way to remove it or turn it off or something."

"And second off?"

"We use it to _our_ advantage."


	47. Chapter 45

"Okay, Sarah, I'm done." Pidge said, walking up Darling's hatch ramp.

"Alright one sec," the small human said, turning back to her computer. "I have to go now, Mousey, but you can drop a line whenever, okay?" The alien with large mouse ears nodded; they were taking up a quarter of Sarah's computer screen for the video call the small human had initiated. "Tell the others I said hi!" Mousey assured they would before signing off.

Before Kirisox had randomly dropped in, the Voltron crew had asked the three aliens from the arena what they wanted to do next. Allura informed them there was plenty of room, but they were likely to be in danger more often than not. Jesaya mentioned she had family on a safe planet that would have no problem providing all three of them shelter. Kintak suggested they could spread word of Voltron and the team's deeds through various channels; they thought the hope the tales provided would rally more to their cause. And so the three had gone to live with Jesaya's family, and they kept in touch every so often through video calls and instant messaging systems.

Sarah turned off her screen and spun around in her chair to face Pidge. The small Paladin had a strange contraption with a long, odd antenna in their hand. "It'll detect a tracker no matter how tiny it might be?" Sarah asked, just wanting to make sure; they didn't have much knowledge on Galra tech and this concerned her.

"Yep. If there's one there."

"Alright….let's try it out then, shall we?"

* * *

Of course Shiro was a little suspicious when the two small humans asked to scan his arm with the weird contraption Pidge had made with Hunk's help. But Sarah was good at thinking on her feet. She said they were trying to understand Galra tech a bit better, which wasn't a full lie; she fully meant what she said, but what they were doing was completely different.

She couldn't make head or tail out of the readings Pidge was staring intently at as the waved the device around his arm. Before she knew it, the small Paladin had declared it done and ran off to download and interpret the data.

"Pidgey, wait!" she said huffily. "That's annoying. Thanks, love." She stood on her tip toes to peck Shiro's cheek before running after Pidge.

"Pidgey, what's the verdict?" she asked when she caught up to the Paladin; they were unloading the data onto Darling's computer.

"We'll know here in a sec…." they murmured, their hands deftly flying over the keyboard. "Ah, crap…" they muttered, grimacing.

"There's a tracker, isn't there?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But it looks like its been damaged, that might explain why its so erratic." Pidge looked to Sarah for their next course of action.

She bit her lip. "Do you think you could get to it? Or like….." she trailed off kind of waving her hands as she tried to find the appropriate words. "It'd be nice if we were in control of it. We could send out signals only when we wanted them sent out."

Pidge frowned. "What do yo-ooohhhh." they said as their eyes widened, Sarah's implication becoming clear to them at last.

She nodded, smiling slightly. "But first things first…we need to tell him." She grimaced at the very thought; he'd feel so guilty.

"Let's do it together, cause then i can bring up trying to remove it and maybe reprogram it." Pidge said, nodding reassuringly. Sarah sighed, and led the way out.

* * *

As expected, Shiro took the news hard. Sarah held him tightly, telling him over and over that it wasn't his fault, this was something completely out of his control. He buried his face in her shoulder, but she got the feeling it'd take a long time to convince him of his innocence in the situation. When Pidge mentioned they could see about removing it, but his face fell into confusion when they got to the bit about reprogramming it.

"Reprogram-? Why? Why not just get rid of it?" he asked, pulling away slightly so he could look at Pidge. When they pointed to Sarah, his gaze turned to her; she bit her lip, nervous. "What are you planning?"

"Well…..and please don't hate me….but um….I thought, if we could get it under our control….we could use it to our advantage. Set traps and such." she said hesitantly. She watched as his expression become thoughtful.

"That's an idea…." he murmured, holding up his Galra arm and staring at it. Sarah looked to Pidge, who was cautiously excited. The tide was really turning in their favour in this war.


	48. Chapter 46

While Shiro informed the rest of the team about the tracker hidden in his arm and Pidge described it's current state and how they were going to try and reprogram it, Sarah hard at work planning a trap for whatever Galra would investigate the signal. Pidge hadn't outright said whether or not they could fiddle with the Galra device, but Sarah had so much faith in the small Paladin's abilities she was already planning several steps ahead. She couldn't really help it; if she didn't have everything or almost everything figured out, she'd stay awake all night worrying about minor details.

By the time Pidge managed to extract and then reprogram the tracker, a week had passed and Sarah had four different plans laid out, along with a few alternatives in case they caught a bigger fish than they had intended.

"Got it!" Pidge declared one afternoon. Or evening. It was hard to tell in space. "We can control its signal with this small remote. I can't say how long it would take the signal to reach…whosoever has been monitoring it so far."

"Nice! Yea, I figure we'd learn that with the first trap we set up. I designed one to account for that, it involves basically camping out for a while until something or someone shows up. Oh, that reminds me, Pidgey, I was wondering if I could request a small modification to my bayard?" Sarah could tell Pidge didn't follow her train of thought, but nodded anyway.

"Yea, sure. What is it?"

* * *

They landed the castle in the middle of a valley who's sides dwarfed the ship. Everything was covered in thick green flora; it was perfect. Pidge, Sarah, and Shiro camped out in a clearing in sight of the castle. If one of Haggar's monster's showed up, Sarah would transport the three of them to the castle to deploy the lions. If a Galra force showed up, Shiro would remain in the clearing as bait while Sarah would get on top of the forest's canopy to stun the Galra officers and Pidge hid amongst the brush on the forest floor.

Sarah had asked if Pidge could allow her rifle to stun on occasions instead of kill, and they delivered in not time flat. It was similar in a way to their bayard, except the electric shocks were more potent and could render someone unconscious for a good five to ten minutes (they had tested it on Lance when he was being particularly mouthy. And then Keith when he laughed at Lance.).

After a few days of having the tracker openly broadcast, Allura notified them over comms that a Galra warship was entering the atmosphere. The three in the clearing watched it land before getting into their agreed upon positions. Sarah didn't like leaving Shiro alone and virtually vulnerable, but they had unanimously decided to put the plan into action, and it was a smart, strategic move. Or at least she thought it was. She reassured herself that he was more than capable of taking care of himself, and he wasn't completely alone; the entire team was connected via comms.

"Pidge do you have them on infrared yet?" Allura asked.

"Yep. They're coming into view now. Hey that looks kind of like…." they trailed off, but before Sarah could ask, Shiro answered.

"Sendak." he hissed.

Sarah peered through her rifle's scope, and sure enough, there was the Galra officer's overly large prosthetic. "Ugh…" she groaned, remembering their last encounter. "Anyone else with him?" she asked, unable to see through the trees and brush.

"No, it looks like it's just him." Pidge replied.

"That's highly suspicious." Allura said, her voice uneasy. "Maybe we should pull out…."

"Shiro, your call." Sarah said, keeping an eagle eye on the clearing he was in.

"We waited this long, let's see if we can bag him."

"Hello, Paladin." Sendak growled, the barest hint of a smirk in his tone. "All alone? Where's your little pet?"

Sarah scoffed. "Asshole…" she murmured, targeting through her scope. She fired and the stunning bolt hit him dead on the face.

"She says hi." Shiro chuckled as Sendak fell over, convulsing.

Not two seconds after the Galra went still, two druids appeared out of nowhere, flanking him.

"Aw, shit." Sarah grimaced, transporting herself to Shiro's side in a wisp of light gray smoke. "That explains why he looked alone." Her bayard transformed into a handle and then disappeared to her belt (they were curious devices). "Pain in my ass." she grumbled, as a white shining orb formed in her palm.

They druids made their own, purple and black and evil, turning them into purple beams while Sarah's became a glowing shield, cause the streaks of pure energy to rebound, throwing up dirt and destroying trees around the druids themselves. Sarah pushed forward, turning the shield into a pulse that knocked them off their feet. While Sarah had their attention fixed on her, Shiro slipped into the trees and ran around behind them, intending to inflict damage himself. But one of the druids turned at the last moment, their claws sparking with black and purple electricity; they caught him in his side, knocking him to the ground.

Sarah gasped sharply, angrily; the air around her began to pulse and glow and suddenly she was in front of the druid. Before it had time to react, she was holding its mask, pure quintessence building up around the hand. "You don't touch him ever." she growled. Suddenly her hand shone like a star, and when it faded all that was left was the mask, cloak, and ash.

The other druid fled. Sarah scowled as she tossed the mask away before kneeling next to Shiro. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine." he panted, wincing as he rose to his knees. "What was that?"

"Oh uh…." she looked to the pile of ash blowing away in the slight breeze. "I was….angry…." she murmured. She wasn't completely sure what she had done or how she had done it, but that wasn't important to her right now. Shiro was hurt; that was the only thing on her mind.

* * *

A few days later, Shiro was good as new and Sendak was in a pod, again, so they could try and extract his memories, again. Sarah thought she could expedite the process through quintessence manipulation.

When she asked Niruth about how she destroyed the druid, and how to best extract Sendak's memories, her dragon mentor seemed shocked. These techniques were very advanced, far beyond where she thought Sarah was. When she questioned her small pupil about the druid, she found the girl could really only shrug and state that she had been furious in the moment. She studied Sarah for a long while, impassive, before insisting on extracting Sendak's memories herself.

"Can you do that from here?" Sarah asked, confused. "I thought you'd be out of range."

"Oh I am never out of range of anyone or anything. I simply limit myself so as to conserve energy. I will bring the Galra's memories to you."

"Oh, alrighty!" Sarah said brightly. "I'll go tell the others." As she left, she got the feeling Niruth was watching her closely, with a mixture of concern and curiosity. For some reason, it made her feel uneasy.


	49. Chapter 47

"She's still Sarah, Shiro." Allura said comfortingly. "The time was bound to come when she'd have to take a life. This is war. But she's still Sarah."

Shiro sighed, resting his head in his hands. "I know. I just….I don't know. I thought if I could keep her out of actual combat, maybe she wouldn't have to, maybe the war wouldn't affect her that way."

"Have you had a chance to talk to her about…Stiea K2?"

"No, we've all been so busy since then, we haven't had time to really sit down and talk about much of anything. She didn't seem very….upset or anything. And with the druid, she kind of just shrugged it off." He pulled his head up and rested his chin on his entwined fingers. "I don't which is bothering me more, her being negatively affected by what war requires, or her not being affected at all."

"I really think you two should make time. It could very well be weighing heavily on her mind, too. She's just so used to keeping things to herself….You've said it yourself before, she's hard to read. There's really no point speculating."

Shiro smiled slightly. "You're right there…."

* * *

After grabbing her bear and her blanket out of the room she and Shiro shared, Sarah ran to Darling. She hadn't caught all of Shiro and Allura's conversation, but it was enough to confirm something she had been fighting since she left Stiea K2: the war against the Galra empire was changing her for the worse. She had managed to convince herself that she had done the right thing in killing the Galra officer, if only just barely. Sarah still wasn't sure what had happened with the druid. She had somehow been able to distract herself for the past few days, but she couldn't anymore.

When she reached her ship, she closed the hatch and then curled up on the small pull-out bed. She had started crying at some point, but didn't bother trying to stem the flow of tears.

All she wanted to do was sleep forever, but she couldn't escape the thoughts declaring her a monster forged by war. Sarah held her bear tight against her chest as soft sobs began to rock her body. She didn't blame Shiro for going to Allura for counsel on this matter; he was probably afraid of what she might do if he made her angry. The memory of the druid replayed in her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think of something that made her happy. Usually, that would be Shiro, but now her fiance made her replay what she had overheard and caused her to sob even harder.

* * *

Shiro knew something was wrong when he found Sarah's sentimental items missing from their bed. He immediately ran to Darling, slightly surprised to see the ship's hatch closed. She didn't respond when he knocked, but he knew she was in there. He didn't know how to open Darling from the outside, he wasn't even sure if you could, so he waited outside. He figured she would have to leave her ship at some point and he'd be able to ask her what was wrong. But hours passed and she still didn't emerge. A few times he thought he could hear muffled crying and was desperate to hold her and comfort her.

It didn't take long for the others to figure out something was wrong. Pidge and Allura offered to take turns staying by his side, so he could sleep or get something to eat. He never did. Two days went by and he was almost beside himself with worry; as far as he knew Sarah hadn't stashed food in her ship in months. Allura encouraged him to eat and sleep, and Hunk even brought food to them, but he couldn't. A tense, anxious knot had formed in his gut, and he knew the only way to soothe it was to hold Sarah in his arms.

On the fourth day, Allura announced that Krisox was boarding. She seemed flustered and put off, but they didn't have much to process anything because as soon as Krisox disembarked he stormed over to Shiro punched him hard, sending the Paladin to his hands and knees.

"Shiro-hey!" Allura yelled at the orange alien. "Just what do you think you're doing?!"

"You wanna tell me what you did, huh? Why my sister is crying?" Krisox asked viciously.

"How…how'd you-" Shiro began rubbing his still stinging cheek.

"She's been trying to reach Kayla through quintessence, but she's been getting weaker every day. You wanna tell me what exactly you said that made Sarah feel like a monster?" Krisox was pacing now, fuming. "A monster forged by war?"

Shiro's face fell. "That's what she's been…." he trailed off, staring longingly at Sarah's ship.

"Oh no, Shiro, I think she might have heard us." Allura said, horror-stricken.

"Heard what?" Krisox demanded, turning on her.

"W-well Shiro was just concerned….what effect the war might have on her….but not like that, he didn't mean it like that at all….." Allura said nervously, taking a step back.

Krisox glared between the two of them before walking up to Darling's hatch. He fiddled with a panel and the ship's hatch opened as a result.

"How'd you do that?" Shiro asked, shocked.

"Who do you think did the modifications for her?" the Dularian smirked, before entering.

Shiro pushed himself to his feet and followed.


	50. Chapter 48

The sound of Darling's hatch opening woke her from a dreamless sleep. She was curious to see who it was, but didn't feel like rolling over. His voice answered her question anyway. She frowned to the hell is Krisox doing here? she wondered dully.

"Maybe you should wait outside." her brother hissed to someone else.

"I….I just want to see if she's okay." Shiro said in a small voice.

"Well, obviously she's not, so there's your answer." She heard a slight squeak as her brother sat in her computer chair and spun to face her. "Hey, Little Bit?" Krisox said softly, using her childhood nickname, as he gently shook her shoulder. "I know you're awake."

She sighed, but still didn't roll over; she wasn't in any mood to face people. "You shouldn't be so mean." she said quietly. "It's not Shiro's fault."

"The hell it isn't!"

"It's not…" she whimpered.

"No, it is." Shiro interjected sadly. She felt him sit on the end of her pull-out bed. "I shouldn't have talked to Allura, I should have sat down with you. I just…I don't know….I don't have an excuse." He took a heavy, shaky breath before continuing. "I don't think you're a monster. You aren't. I'd hoped I could save you from the darker aspects of this war, but I know now it was futile and I'm so sorry…." his voice began to quiver as he trailed off and she felt like she might start crying again.

"Okay, that's a start, I'm still a skeptic, but whatever." Krisox said bluntly. "Sarah, you wanna tell us why you holed yourself up?"

She frowned, but after a moment understood what he was getting at. Sighing, she sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees, squeezing the bear, before timidly looking between the two. Shiro's eyes glistened and he looked so deflated….

"I….was scared that maybe I was turning into something….dangerous….I'm still not fully convinced I did the right thing….I reacted on instinct, I…..and with the druid I don't even know what happened and it scares me…." Her voice grew shaky as she trailed off into a barely audible whisper before falling silent.

"Little Bit, I told you, if you hadn't, Lance and I would be dead, or worse. And I'm sure that druid would have killed Shiro if you didn't act. Those were people who were acting of their own volition with the intent to kill." Krisox gave her a small, encouraging smile when she looked at him owlishly. "If anyone is a monster on this ship it's me, and hey!" He raised his hand to quiet her before she could protest. "I keep things PG for your sake, but I know what I am and I've come to terms with it. But you are a ray of goddamn sunshine, okay?"

Sarah bit her lip before nodding and smiling slightly. She didn't like that he thought of himself as such, but had a feeling she wouldn't be able to change his mind. She mentally balked at the thought of what he might have done. She turned to Shiro, reaching out a hand. "I'm sorry I….next time I'll just…we'll talk things out." she giggled, nervously. He smiled warmly, the tears that had built up spilling out as his eyes crinkled. He took her hand and she gently tugged him towards her. He obliged, scooping her up into a tight hug. She let her bear fall to the side, wrapping her arms around his neck.

When they began kissing, Krisox groaned. "Ugh, okay if you're gonna do that I'm gonna not be here anymore. Hey, this castle got spare rooms?" he asked, standing up.

Sarah broke away from her fiance, staring at her brother with a raised eyebrow. "Why…."

"I think I'll stick around a little bit. At least until I'm satisfied with that one." He pointed at Shiro before leaving. "I'll check for accommodations with the princess, you two go back to the hanky panky or whatever Sarah calls it these days." He laughed as the two turned beet red.


	51. Chapter 49

"Okay, so just hold your fingers out like so…." Sarah said, her pointer fingers extended, elbows resting on her knees as she sat cross-legged across from Shiro. "Yea, and then I hit one…" She tapped his finger with her own. "so now that hand has two. Get it?"

"Yea I think so. If I hit your hand with this one, you then have three?" he asked, tapping one her extended fingers with his two.

"Yes, exactly." she said happily, bringing her middle and ring finger to join her pointer.

"But wait, I'm at a disadvantage!"

"What do you mean?"

"You hit my two with your three and then I'm down to one hand!"

Sarah tapped his nose. "That's why I like going first." she giggled mischievously.

Shiro gasped playfully. "You little sneak!" He reached over and pulled her into his lap, lightly tickling her.

"Shirooo, stooop-!" Sarah said between laughs.

"Oh my god will you two just get a room?" Krisox said irritably from the opposite side of the couch.

"There are other lounges." Sarah said as she stuck her tongue out at her brother.

"Yea, but I'm already sitting here and you know how I don't like to move once I'm comfy."

Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes. "What are you watching anyway?"

"I'll let you know when it comes back."

She made to reply, but an odd, distressing sensation washed over her. She felt the echos of pain, fear, hopelessness….all with a familiar twinge.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" Shiro said, his voice serious and concerned; she just noticed she had gone completely rigid.

"I think…." Krisox said, his voice strained. The sensation passed and her body relaxed of its own accord. Looking over, she saw her brother leaning forward, his head resting in his hands. "I think….Haggar is…hurting Kayla." he said, his voice cracking.

Her heart froze. Of course that's what it was. She didn't know why it hadn't clicked with her. Her mind felt totally blank, as if she didn't know how to process the information. Her little sister was in pain, agonising pain, and here Sarah was playing little games with her fiance and having a good time.

"Oh my god…" she whimpered, as tears sprung to her eyes. "What am I doing? I should be…I should be…..and she's…" Sarah stood up and began pacing. She quickly became incoherent as her words became mixed with sobs. Shiro stood and pulled her into a hug. "I'm horrible, I'm a horrible sister, I've waited so long." she cried, sobbing into his chest.

"No, no you aren't. You wanted an army at your back to eliminate the chance of failure." He raised her chin to look in her eyes. "You formed a solid war strategy and were prepared to take on the entire empire within minutes of hearing she had been captured. You're an amazing sister. Things are just taking longer than you had expected." He gave her a reassuring smile before kissing her forehead.

"Okay, well you two have fun with that sentiment, I'm gonna actually go do something." Krisox said as he made to leave the room.

"Krisox, I'm coming with you." Sarah said quickly.

"The hell you are!"

"No, she's right, you can't go alone. I'll go, too, it'll just be the three of us." Shiro said firmly.

"Fine! Whatever!" her brother said, throwing his hands up in annoyance. "Let's get going!"

"Without a plan?"

"Don't worry, I'll think one up on the way." Sarah said, grabbing her fiance's hand. "Now let's go, I don't want to leave her alone a moment longer."


	52. Chapter 50

"Can you get a read?" Shiro asked Sarah, as they and Krisox ran through the green-lit Galra halls.

"Yup. There's a big room around this next corner, we go through it and there's a line of cells, she's there." she replied, as she explored ahead of them through quintessence. "And, hang a right." She opened her eyes as they rounded the corner. Though alarms were blaring, no Galra bot had made an appearance. This made Sarah and Shiro very uneasy.

A door in front of them opened automatically, revealing a room full of palettes and large boxes. They three continued through, but came to a halt when they heard the door's locking mechanism clang shut behind them.

"Oh god dammit…" Sarah muttered as the Dark Witch materialised in front of them.

"I thought you'd come for your sister….you will pay….you think you can kill one of my druids and not face consequences?" Haggar spat viciously.

"Sarah, can you get to the other side of that door?" Shiro whispered, his Galra arm lighting up.

"Go get Kayla." Krisox said firmly. "We'll deal with the witch."

Sarah bit her lip, but nodded. "Remember what I taught you." she whispered to Shiro as she disappeared in smoke.

Once on the other side of the door, she heard Haggar roar angrily, but didn't wait to see if they were able to distract her. Just as she had seen earlier, she was in a hall with cell doors lining each side. Kayla was somewhere in this area, Sarah just had to find her signature. She ran down the hall, guiding herself through quintessence. She turned a corner into another hallway that also had prison cells and sped up; she was getting close.

A few patrolling sentries caught sight of her, but she made short work of them. Sarah almost fell as she came to a skidding halt and opened her eyes. After some maneuvering she managed to pry the door open and peered in timidly. "Kayla?" she whispered, her eyes adjusting.

"Sarah?!" a voice asked in shock from a corner. A figure rose and threw themselves at Sarah, who almost fell over in surprise. She hugged her sister tightly, stroking her dirty blonde hair as Kayla began whimpering. "I was so afraid no one was going to come….I thought I was gonna die here…."

"Shush….I wouldn't let that happen." Sarah squeezed Kayla before releasing her and taking her hand. "Can you run? We have to go."

"Um, yea, lead the way." She stumbled a bit at first, her legs not used to moving so much, but Kayla was a health nut who worked out daily; the strength returned quickly.

After they rounded the corner and speedily made their way along the corridor, Sarah forced the door to the storage room open from afar so it'd be open by the time they reached it. When the crossed the threshold, Sarah gasped as Krisox went flying across the room. Shiro was just getting back on his feet as Haggar surged forward, a glowing purple ball of dark energy forming in her hand.

"NO!" Sarah screamed, suddenly materialising in front of Shiro. She had a brightly glowing white orb in her hand, and as she raised it, Haggar rose in the air, paralysed and surrounded by a white shimmery mist. "I told you, witch." she said angrily. "You aren't gonna touch him ever again." The ball expanded into a pulse, launching Haggar to the far corner of the room where she hit the wall and crumpled to the floor.

"Sarah, was that-?" Kayla began, panting slightly as she reached them.

"Yea, it is, let's go." Krisox grunted, taking Kayla's hand.

Sarah intended to agree, but suddenly felt the world tilt around her. She heard Kayla call her name in worry, and somebody caught her, but after that everything was a blur and she felt her conscious slip in and out.

When she next came to, she was horizontal on the floor of her brother's ship. Groaning, she pushed herself up to a sitting position. "I overdid it again, didn't I?" she asked groggily.

"I'll say." Kayla said in disbelief. Sarah looked around and found her sister holding her knees to her chest, watching her owlishly. She gazed around until she found Krisox and Shiro; they were in the pilot's seats up front. "I thought you dropped that?"

"It's been useful, I took up studying again." Sarah shrugged, turning back to her. Kayla nodded and scooted over next to her older sister, and the two wrapped their arms around each other.

"Thank you…" Kayla whispered, resting her head on Sarah's shoulder.

"What are sister's for?" Sarah said smiling, before resting her head on Kayla's.


	53. Chapter 51

Before introductions were made, Sarah insisted on grabbing the bag with Kayla's blanket and plush that she had brought with her from home. The way her sister's eyes lit up gave her a warm fuzzy feeling, and Kayla seemed to relax a bit more. The party moved to one of the lounge rooms, Kayla sitting between her siblings as the Paladins eagerly asked questions about their mission. Though she seemed nervous at first, the banter between Sarah, the Paladins, and Krisox eased her tension.

"It's really a pleasure to finally meet you." Allura said, cutting off Pidge who was about start interrogating the rescue party again. "Sarah's told us a lot about you."

Kayla raised an eyebrow, slightly skeptical. "Yea? What'd she say?"

"Hey, I only talk bad about you when you piss me off." Sarah teased, gently elbowing her sister. The two giggled as Krisox rolled his eyes.

"Oh, hey, I'm curious." Kayla said, turning to face her brother. "You guys are actually getting along. What happened?"

"I decided to drop the ruse when that one made Sarah cry." Krisox answered airily, gesturing towards Shiro. "Figured I'd linger a bit. Keep an eye on things."

"Hey, we worked that out, it was a misunderstanding." Sarah said, squeezing her fiance's hand as he tensed slightly. She knew he still felt guilty, and her brother was not helping.

"Uh huh, sure."

Before Sarah could respond, Kayla yawned wearily. "Could I lay down?"

"Yea, of course. There's more than enough rooms." Sarah said as she stood up and offered her sister her hand.

She escorted Kayla to an empty room not too far from the one she and Shiro shared. After giving her a quick orientation to familiarise herself with the alien ship, Sarah knelt next to the bed as Kayla got herself comfortable.

"I don't know if I believe Krisox." she said after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, lost.

"Well….just the way Shiro looks at you…." Kayla smiled softly at her older sister. "It's like he sees the entire universe in you. It's really cute."

Sarah blushed slightly, smiling. "Yea well….I see the universe in him so….that works out then." she finished awkwardly. Kayla chuckled. "Go to sleep, goof." Sarah said, tapping her sister's noise, before standing up and stepping out into the hallway.

Shiro was waiting for her, wrapping his arms around her middle as she wrapped hers around his neck. "My sister's safe…" she said softly, resting her head against his chest. She felt so relieved and happy she could cry. "She's safe….we saved her….."

"Correction." Shiro said, kissing the top of her head. She leaned back to look at him, slightly confused. "You saved her. You made the plan, you found where she was and sprung her, you saved us from Haggar."

Sarah looked into his eyes and she felt what Kayla had described; it was like he saw all the beauty in the universe in her. Happy tears sprung to her eyes and she rose on her tip toes to kiss him, giggling blissfully as they rested their foreheads against each others. In that moment, all was right with the universe.


	54. Chapter 52

They had received a distress signal and descended upon the planet to investigate. It had once been a metropolis planet like Stiea K2, but now it as nothing but rubble and ruin. They couldn't pinpoint the origin of the signal, so they split into three small groups and landed on the surface in the lions while Coran kept the castle at a stable orbit.

Kayla and Krisox accompanied Sarah and Shiro, as both wanted to get out of the confines of the castle and there weren't any signs of recent Galra activity. After Shiro landed the Black Lion, the four descended down her ramp. The ground was covered in dust and ash and debris. Everything was gray and desolate, and there didn't seem to be any sign of life.

"We might have to split up." Sarah said, stretching her arms behind her.

Shiro's eyes tightened slightly, but he nodded. "Yea. We'll cover more ground."

"But not you two." Sarah added quickly, pointing to her siblings.

"What do you mean?" Kayla asked, confused. In the month since she had been rescued, she had regained most of her muscle mass and was almost back to her old self. Only the nightmares remained as evidence of her imprisonment.

"I know you can probably take care of yourself, but I'd much prefer you and Krisox stay together."

"Why not you and me?"

"Cause I don't really trust Krisox on his own."

"Wha-hey!" he protested. "What kind of trouble can I get into here of all places?"

"I'm sure I don't know." Sarah said, as Shiro ran down to the far end of what had been a plaza. "Please?" She smiled when they nodded, before turning and running to the other side of the plaza.

When she turned onto a wide street, Sarah closed her eyes and searched the area before her with quintessence. She couldn't get a good look at the surroundings themselves, but she was mostly looking for any sign of life; there didn't seem to be any.

After what felt like a decade, but was likely only thirty minutes, Sarah switched her cybernetic ear piece to the comms channel, picking up Allura in mid conversation and accidentally cutting her off.

"Have you guys found anyone?" she asked, sitting down on some flat slabs of crumbling stone.

"Nope, I was just telling Pidge, I can't even detect the signal anymore." Allura answered.

"Okay, well, that sounds fishy and I think we should fall back to the castle and go." Hunk said nervously.

"Hey, wait, I see something." Sarah said, staring into a building across from her. Thought she had only caught a glimpse, it was definitely movement. Something small had been peeking at her from what used to be a window, dashing away the moment her gaze landed on them. She stood and jogged over, rising up on her tiptoes to see inside. It looked like it had once been someone's home, but now there was no sign of life and glass littered the floor.

"Hmmm." Sarah took a few steps back, trying to find a way inside. But she didn't need to; in the center of the rode was a gaggle of about five alien children, huddled together nervously. The tallest looked like they reached her waist (which isn't saying much) and they stood bravely in front of the others, their vivid purple eyes watching her closely.

"Hey…." she said gently, slowly approaching them. A few backed up, trembling, and she stopped, kneeling down and extending her hand. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The brave one took a step forward, pausing to gesture with their four arms that the others didn't need to be alarmed when three of them gasped loudly. Lowering their arms, they slowly approached Sarah. When they were only a few feet away, they extend one of their larger hands and took the small human's. Sarah smiled, trying to be encouraging, though she wasn't sure if she was succeeding.

"I'm Sarah. What's your name?"

"Teiisa." they said after a moment.

One of the smallest children ran forward, almost colliding with Teiisa. Their pupil-less eyes were glued on their linked hands. "Tei-Tei." they whimpered, clinging to Teiisa. The latter pulled their hand away to hug the former.

"Forgive her." Teiisa said. "She wasn't very old when…" They gestured around at the rubble sadly.

Sarah nodded, lowering her hand. She looked to the little one. "What's your name?" she asked gently.

"Chik-Ogtana." she said in a small voice.

"We call her Chi." another child said as they approached. They had shoulder length hair sprouting from behind a prominent horn that swayed in the slight breeze. "I'm V'selle. Tei is oldest. She watch us since everything go gray."

"Aurcter." Tei said as the last two joined them. She gestured to a small feathered creature with a face that resembled an Earth eagle. "He shy. Aukn'ec. He is Aury's womb-mate." Another feathered being, with lighter feathers than his brother, peeked around Tei.

"It's nice to meet you all." Sarah said, looking at all of them in turn. "Is it just you five?"

"Yes….it been one month since the purple ones came." Tei answered sadly.

"And you've been alone all this time?" Sarah thought she might cry when Tei nodded. "You don't have to be anymore. I came with companions and a big ship, we can take care of you until we find your parents." Her face fell when three of the five started crying. "What's wrong?"

"Our parents no more…." Tei answered, their purple eyes falling to the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Sarah gasped. "We can give you food and shelter and safety, don't worry."

Chi looked to Tei, a curious expression on their face. "Mani?" they squeaked.

Tei looked into Sarah's eyes for a long moment before nodding. "Mani."

"Mani!" Chi cried, launching her small form at Sarah. Next thing she knew, all of the children were hugging her.

"Uh, Allura, you there?" she asked, awkwardly trying to wrap her arms around all five children.

"Yes?" the Princess replied.

"What does 'mani' mean?"

"It means 'mother'." Allura answered, amused. "Shiro, I think Sarah just made you two parents."

"Oops." Sarah murmured.


	55. Chapter 53

"We were bound to adopt any stray child that crossed our path." Shiro said with a chuckle. "Sarah, I'm coming to you."

"Okay. I'm gonna start moving back, we might meet at the plaza." Carefully, she extracted herself from the huddle of children. "Come with me this way, okay? That's where the ship is." Her heart swelled with warmth when Chi and Aukn'ec took her hands.

She kept a steady pace so she didn't lose anyone; Sarah generally had a very fast pace and had to put forth conscious effort to slow it down. It occurred to her that is was rather strange how quickly the kids had adopted her, but on the other hand, she had fallen in love with them just as quickly.

Though she was very bad at estimating the passage of time and distance, Sarah assumed they were about halfway back to the ruined plaza. She was genuinely enjoying the children's company, as they all chattered away about anything that came to mind. An explosion behind them caused them all to stop and fall silent.

"Mani, Mani, we go, we go!" Tei said, suddenly terrified, tugging at Sarah's hand.

She didn't stop to ask why the eldest child was suddenly so afraid; Sarah assumed it was Galra and led the way, running down the street. She heard Chi cry out; glancing behind her, she saw the smallest child had tripped. Sarah gestured for the rest to keep running forward, as she went to pick up the fallen Chi. The tiny child wrapped her dark orange arms around Sarah's neck, holding on tightly.

"Sarah, what was that explosion?" Shiro asked over comms.

"I don't know, I think it was Galra, we're almost o the pla-eek!" she squealed as something hit her ankles, wrapping around. She fell, quickling twisting so she fell on her back and not Chi. Sarah pushed Chi towards the other children, waving at them to keep running while she figured out had tripped her and was still binding her legs together tightly.

"Sarah, what happened? Are you okay?" Shiro asked, panting slightly; it sounded like he had picked up speed.

Sarah found herself frozen almost, as she stared at the bolas wrapped tightly around her legs. There was something familiar about it, and a deep-seated, old fear rose within her.

"Sarah, what is it?" Kayla demanded.

Her sister's voice triggered a memory of events she hadn't thought about in years. She was running through a street on Earth at night, screaming for her sister, who was being carried through the air by an unknown force. When it stopped, something came flying at her; it caught her ankles, wrapping around and causing her to fall over. Something grabbed her shoulder and she whipped around violently.

"Hey, hey, it's me." Shiro said, concerned.

Sarah looked around wildly, disoriented, as her world had gone from Earth at night to the ruined planet at midday.

"What happened?" he asked soothingly, rubbing her back gently.

"I….I was on Earth….and they were taking Kayla….." she murmured confused.

The pieces fell into place for both sisters at the same time.

"Shiro, get her out of there!" Kayla yelled desperately.

"The kids…where…." Sarah asked frantically.

"I directed them to the Black Lion." he said, activating his Galra and freeing her legs from the bolas.

"Sarah, the kids are here, don't worry about them, they're safe, get yourself out of there." Krisox said fiercely.

Shiro helped Sarah to her feet and they began running again. "What's going on?" he asked, concerned and confused.

"The…slavers who kidnapped us…" Sarah said, fighting the flashbacks that demanded her attention. "They kidnap kids, they take kids and raise them as slaves, I didn't know there were more, I thought they all died."

"That explosion should've taken out everyone." Kayla said fearfully.

"Stop reminiscing and get back here." Krisox hissed through the comms.

The two sped up slightly when the ruined plaza came into view, only to have their path suddenly blocked by four vicious aliens with weapons. Sarah and Shiro skidded to a halt, backing up and looking around as they were quickly surrounded by a circle of aliens of various shape and size.

"Ya know, them kids was ours for the taking." a particularly nasty, reptilian alien said. "We don take kindly to those who take our bounty."

"Children aren't a bounty." Sarah said fiercely, glaring at him. He stared at her curiously; it sent a shiver down her spine.

He stepped out from the ring, approaching the two humans; Shiro reflexively moved to shield Sarah with his body. The reptilian stopped, amused. "I remember the face of every I take." he said, tapping a cybernetic enhancement that jutted from his forehead. "And I remember yours."

Sarah stared at him in disbelief, remembering who he was. "But….you died…in the explosion…."

"Ha! Those goodies didn't know who they were messin with. Ukhin can survive anything. And I survived that." Ukhin turned to face the circle. "These two robbed us of our prize, but there's a silver lining. That one there," he pointed a claw at Sarah, who recoiled. "was my capture once many years ago. And now she's returned." Low laughter spread through the circle; Sarah grabbed Shiro's hand and he squeezed it, still standing between her and Ukhin. "They be older than our usual stock. But who cares?" the vile alien laughed heartily. He made eye contact with Sarah, holding her gaze. "Bag em."


	56. Chapter 54

Sarah and Shiro barely had time to react; both were hit with tranquilizers half a second after Ukhin finished speaking. As she fell, Sarah tried to reach the Black Lion, begging her to protect her siblings and the children. She didn't know if she was successful or not as she completely lost consciousness before she hit the ground.

When she next woke, she found her sprawled on a rough metal floor. Pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, she became very aware of her pounding head. "Oowww…"

"Sarah?"

Looking up, she saw Shiro in a cell next to hers; a thick grate separated them from each other and the rest of the ship. Sarah crawled over to the grate, trying not to think about how disgusting the floor was. "You okay?" she asked when she reached him.

"Yea, you?"

"Slight headache." She looked around at the dimly lit hall and the seemingly endless row of cells. "This is just like the one Kayla and I were thrown into." she murmured.

"How'd the one group get you guys out? Do you remember?" Shiro asked, swinging his legs around to sit cross-legged.

"Not a whole lot, unfortunately." she answered, frowning. "I remember flashing red lights. A lot of kids were scared and screaming." She bit her lip, squeezing her eyes shut as she strained to remember. "I know….there was gunfire. So they must've been armed." She sighed, giving up and opening her eyes. "Not much more than that."

"Better than nothing." he said encouragingly as his eyes roved around the derelict ship. "I'm surprised this is functional, it looks like it's falling apart."

Sarah stared around herself, trying to absorb as much information as she could glean in the low lighting. The two were quiet for a time, listening to the various sounds of the ship: the humming of the engine, the whimpering children, the occasional racket as some piece of machinery declared itself obsolete and falling apart. She wouldn't be surprised if they were holding the ship together with duct tape.

Sarah wasn't sure how long they sat in silence, observing their surroundings, each likely trying to think up a plan to escape. But she wanted much more than that.

Her train of thought was broken when Ukhin walked up the hall, stopping by her cell. "I see you're awake! Good. We weren't sure if the tranqs would be too much. We rarely take adults, you see." He paused, seeming to wait for a response, but continued on when neither gave him one. "We don't really know what to do with you. Our buyers want obedient slaves, raised to be quiet and keep their head down." The reptilian leaned against the grate separating her from him. "Could be an interesting gift to the Galra and their arena."

Sarah couldn't help but smirk as she shared a look with Shiro. Ukhin missed it, as one of his subordinates drew his attention away from them. As the loathsome reptile followed the other alien back down the hall, Sarah turned to her fiance, dropping her voice to a conspirational whisper. "I have the beginnings of a plan, still working on it, but whatever you do, don't give away our strengths."

Shiro raised an eyebrow but nodded. "Wanna surprise them?" Sarah giggled mischievously, smiling. "These guys are fucked, aren't they?" he chuckled.

"They sure are."


	57. Chapter 55

"What do you mean it's destroyed? It's at-" Ukhin said over the transceiver, cutting off abruptly. He glared at the device before tossing it away to a subordinate. "Seems luck is on your side, _humans_." he hissed and Sarah and Shiro. "Some Champion and Sorceress spared you two from certain death." The reptilian gruffly turned away, stomping down the hall.

Sarah found she was having a hard time concealing her giggles. "Hey, we're supposed to be laying low." Shiro said with a smile, poking her through the grate.

"I know, I know..." she murmured, trying to think of other things.

He chuckled. "There's a surprising lack of patrols." he noted after she had rid herself of her giggle fit. "Can you see how many crew members there are?"

"I can try." Sarah said, relaxing and closing her eyes. Moving through the currents of quintessence, she explored the ship, trying to keep count of the bodies she saw. It didn't take her very long to lap around, as the ship wasn't very longer and only had two levels. She felt Shiro perk up as she opened her eyes.

"That was fast."

"Ships not that big. I think there's only a dozen crew members? It was a little hard keeping the kids and crew separate in my head." she said, frowning; she had always had trouble keeping numbers straight mentally.

"There were definitely more than twelve on the planet." Shiro murmured, staring at the ground while he thought.

"Maybe they took separate ships?" Sarah suggested, shrugging. "Or maybe some stayed on the planet?"

"Either way, they aren't here. I think we could handle a dozen crew members, don't you?" he asked with a smirk.

"Most definitely."

* * *

They agreed to reveal their various strengths when the right moment came, but were still trying to figure out what would constitute the right moment, when Ukhin returned to their cells with three others. As the reptile swiped the keycard over the lock keeping Sarah in, she stood, backing to the wall.

"What do you want." she demanded as the four entered the cell. Shiro got to his feet as well, hovering on the other side of the grate.

"I've heard there are certain pleasures human females can provide." he growled, glaring at her. "I thought we'd try you out."

Sarah raised an eyebrow, looking over to her fiance and knew they were both thinking the same thing; the right moment was now.

With a wave of her hand, she forcefully knocked the four over, giggling slightly as they became a tangled mess. "I'll take that." she said, delicately plucking the keycard from Ukhin scaly hand as he tried to disentangle himself from the pile. Sarah skipped out of her cell, closing and locking the door behind her. Shiro wrapped his human arm around her middle, his Galra arm still active from when he cut his way out of his cell.

"That takes care of a third of the crew." he laughed, pecking her on the cheek. "I'll go secure the bridge."

"Right. I'll see if there's anyone in the maintenance wing."

They nodded and set off on their self appointed tasks. Sarah followed the hum of the rickety engines and machines, slowing to a stop just before a room helpfully labeled "MAINTENANCE". There were only two aliens inside, which meant the other six were in the bridge or patrolling the ship. She hoped all six were in the bridge.

Securing the maintenance room was a breeze. It didn't take her long to subdue the two aliens and chain them to some machinery. She was in and out within five minutes and took to the halls, alert to any sound or movement. There didn't seem to be any other crew members on the level, so she went to the prison block to check the children.

She went up and down the row, assuring the kids that she would let them out, she just needed to check the lower level. She reached the end where her and Shiro had been kept and groaned; Ukhin was missing, but the other three were still in the cell.

"Hey." she said, rapping on the grate. "Where'd he go?" Whether they were groggy or defiant, she couldn't tell, but none of them spoke. "Well you guys are real helpful." she grumbled, looking up and down the prison block hall. She ran to the bridge, to check in with Shiro and gauge how many other crew members remained.

When she reached it, she found the door open. Inside she found four aliens, passed out and tied up in a corner, and Shiro at the controls. "Hey." she said, announcing her presence as she approached. "Did they get a signal out or anything?"

"Nope. I did though, not sure if the castle is still in the direction but it's worth a shot. How many were in the maintenance?"

Sarah watched his hands dance fluidly across the controls, entranced. "Uh, two. So that's um..." She held up her hands."

"Nine." Shiro said, slightly amused. "Three left."

"Yea-wait, no, the head asshole got out somehow."

"Well that's a pain. Have you checked the lower deck yet?"

"No, I wanted to check in first. Gauge how many were left." she said airily, stretching.

"Want me to come with you?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. She knew he still worried, but she was grateful he wasn't as overbearing as he had once been.

"I think I can handle it. But if you want to join in on the fun, I'm not going to stop you." she said, smiling, and kissing him on the cheek before heading out.

"I might take you up on that, if I can get this ship's autopilot to function."

"Roger that."

She jogged down the main hall to the central area, where the ladder and elevator to the lower level were located. She crouched down beside the ladder, looking down; everything was dark with the exception of the blinking red alarm lights. She couldn't hear much beyond the hum and racket of the machines and engines. It was curious that the alarms weren't sounding, but she set that aside.

Lying on her stomach, she dropped her head down to get a better, albeit upside down, view of the halls below. Though she couldn't see any movement, she didn't trust that for a second. Sarah pulled herself up to a standing position, looking around for alternatives. Her eyes lit up when she landed on an air vent grate. "My favourite!"

After she eased herself down the vent to the second level, she took a moment to listen, hoping perhaps she could hear something carried to her by the vent. She thought she caught slight murmuring and followed the sound down one of the branches.

She was right on the money; after crawling through the dusty vent for a few minutes, the murmuring grew louder. She turned a corner and the voices became distinct and she could understand what they were saying.

"You think it was them?" one asked, shaking slightly.

"That's what it looks like." Ukhin growled. "Just our luck, catching _the_ Champion and _the_ Sorceress."

"So she's not one of the humans you-"

"No, she is." the reptilian said impatiently.

"I didn't know humans could possess magic." a third voice said.

"Normally, they can't. She is an anomaly." a fourth chipped in.

"It doesn't matter. We know this ship, they don't. We'll overpower them easily." Ukhin said confidently.

"And then what?" the first voice asked.

"And then we kill 'em." Ukhin said simply. "Let's go, they've probably taken the bridge by now."

"Yep..." Sarah whispered to herself, listening to their footsteps as they left the room.

Running on memory and guess work, she navigated her way to the main hall of the lower level, which mirrored the upper level. She almost fell out of the vent, as there was a large gaping hole just over the hall. A second later, the four aliens walked directly under the vent. Sarah dropped her head down, watching them walk away. Pulling back up, she swung her legs over and carefully hoisted herself down into the hall. She dropped the rest of the way, a gentle thump amidst the engines' hums. It seemed only Ukhin heard her, as the others kept walking when he froze, slowly turning around.

"Witch." he hissed through his teeth. "I'll break you."

"Not if I break you, first." Shiro said fiercely from behind him.


	58. Chapter 56

Ukhin looked between them, snarling at the sight of his defeated subordinates behind the Black Paladin. "I'm not afraid of you, Champion." he spat.

Sarah and Shiro smirked at the same time. "It's really not me you should be afraid of."

Before the reptilian could turn back to face her, Sarah had him flying down the hall to its far end. He crumpled for a second, but when he managed to get to his feet he immediately began charging at them, roaring in anger. Shiro's Galra hand made for a wonderful light show amidst the still flashing red alarm lights and Sarah's own white quintessence energy. His graceful arcs and her strong blasts cast sharp shadows against the walls. An outside observer could mistake them for elegant dancers, if they ignored their deadly attacks.

It didn't take long for the couple to wear Ukhin down. With a wave of her hand, Sarah cast a white slash that knocked the reptile's feet out from under him. In the next second, she was sitting on his back, Shiro kneeling next to them. "Game over, lizard." he said, winking at Sarah, who giggled in response.

After securing the crew with a mixture of chains and cells, Sarah let the kidnapped children out while Shiro manned the control room. After double and triple checking that there weren't any more children locked up, Sarah escorted them to the control room.

"Get anything?" she asked when she entered, inquiring after the signal he had sent out to the castle.

"Yep. They should be here any minute." he turned, leaning against the panel. "Everything squared away?"

"Yup. Ukhin isn't getting out again, that's for sure." she said, kneeling down to make sure the kids were okay. "Don't worry, you're safe now."

Many of the young ones seemed scared and nervous still, but a handful had warmed up to Sarah, hovering close to her.

Just as he had said, the castle burst through a wormhole close by after a few moments. What they did not expect was another fairly large ship to follow. Sarah and Shiro shared a confused look, interrupted by Allura hailing the slaver vessel, informing them that Hunk was going to fly his Lion out to them, followed by some ships from the mystery vessel.

"Who are they?" Shiro asked when the Princess finished.

"Its UniPeace, the organisation that rescued Sarah and Kayla back when Ukhin first caught them. Krisox contacted them not long after we lost contact with both of you." she answered cheerily, relieved they were okay.

A few minutes later, Hunk and the other ships docked. Kayla and Krisox were the first to depart the Yellow Lion, almost suffocating Sarah as they hugged her tightly. Members from UniPeace set to work gathering the children and taking care of the slavers.

"They said they'd take care of everything else." Hunk said with a shrug, answering Sarah and Shiro's questioning looks. "They've just about cleaned up the child slave network."

"Cool!" Sarah said, clapping excitedly. If she were to be honest with herself, she wanted the slavers to suffer grotesquely. Turning children into slaves was unimaginably horrible, and her heart ached for those already stripped off their innocence. But she didn't want to focus on what she couldn't change. Her thoughts drifted to the five children she had found before capture, wondering if UniPeace would re-home them as well, and she felt saddened by the idea. She felt guilty, knowing they deserved a good, safe home, but she had been looking forward to seeing them again.

To Sarah's great surprise, the five stray children were waiting for her and Shiro with Allura when they returned. The Princess smiled as the little ones ran up to the couple, hugging and clinging to them.

"I thought UniPeace would re-home them as well?" Sarah asked, confused but delighted.

"They intended to. But you must have made some impression on them, they refused to leave." Allura said, kneeling next the huddle.

"Looks like you're stuck with 'em!" Lance teased, ruffling Aurcter's feathered head. The children paid no mind, chattering animatedly and excitedly.

"Oh, we have a new member to the team." Coran said, as he and short person with ginger hair entered the hanger. "This is Oliver. UniPeace picked them up when they were freeing children from a slave colony. They crashed there when escaping a Galra ship. They're really quite lucky."

"I am, I'm so fortunate, everyone's been so nice. Well, except for the Galra. And the slavers. Everyone else." they said with a laugh.

"Well, welcome aboard, Oli!" Sarah said brightly.

"Just roll with it, she likes her nicknames." Hunk said when Oliver looked around confused. "I'm Legman, Pidge is Pidgey, Lance's always changes."

"One day it'll be Blue Man Group, next it'll be You Little Shit." Pidge said with a completely straight face.

"Hey, tell 'em Keith's!" Sarah chirped excitedly.

Keith went slightly red faced and got very flustered. "No, no, that's not necessary."

"Besides, you're the only one who can remember it." Pidge pointed out.

"Okay, I'll tell 'em Keith's." Sarah began, ignoring Keith's groans. "He's my Gay Half-Alien Mullet Hot-headed Emo….." Pidge and Allura dissolved into a fit of giggles as Keith tried to disappear from reality out of embarrassment.


	59. Chapter 57

"Allura, Allura!" Pidge called excitedly, running down the hall to the Princess's bedroom. It was a good thing Allura and Sarah had been letting their nails dry and hadn't actively been painting them, because the Green Paladin made them jump violently.

"What is it?" Allura asked, a little annoyed but disguising it well.

"Look what we found!" Pidge ran in, followed by Hunk, carrying various books and scrolls. They dumped them unceremoniously on Allura's bed and spread them out. "Lion blueprints and instructions!"

"Oh, wow…." Allura murmured in disbelief. "Where did you find these?"

"We were just exploring, as one does, because let's face it large portions of the castle are unexplored." Hunk began.

"And we took it upon ourselves to rectify that." Pidge continued smoothly. "We're poking around and happen upon a library!"

"A big, dusty library. So of course we take a look around."

"And just lying on one of the back tables are all these blueprints and books and instructions on how to make Voltron Lions!" Pidge finished, virtually bouncing with excitement.

"This is incredible!" Allura said, her eyes lighting up.

"Are you guys gonna try and build a Lion?" Sarah asked eagerly.

"Yea, if we can get the parts!" Hunk said, determined.

"I'm gonna go tell Shiro, this is so cool!" Sarah said as she sprinted off to find her fiance. She had last seen him sparring with Keith, but that had been a while ago. If she had to guess, she would say he was in the lounge on this level. As she grew closer to its open door, she knew she was right when his voice reached her. The topic of conversation, however, was something she absolutely did not want to hear coming from him and she completely forgot what she wanted to tell him.

"Shiro, I thought we both agreed not to talk about death?" she said irritably, standing the door, her arms crossed across her small chest.

He jumped slightly, and his face fell as he turned towards her. "I didn't know you…were there…." he said, somewhat lamely.

Keith fidgeted slightly as she sat down next to Shiro, still miffed.

"Besides, if you were to die," she said, her tone angry and fierce. "I'd march right into whatever afterlife you believe in and drag your ass back to the land of the living."

"Sarah….you can't cheat death…." Keith said cautiously. He recoiled when she glared at him.

"Watch me." she snarled; in that moment, she knew both of them actually believed her capable. And she damn well could be.


	60. Chapter 58

"Probably don't go down that hall." Sarah said, giving the kids a tour of the castle. "There's a scary Galra locked up in a tube. Niruth is trying to extract information from him."

"Niruth is the….dragon?" Tei asked, peering down the hall curiously.

"Yes. Have you guys formally met her yet? Let's go there now anyway, I need to ask her some stuff." She gently tugged Tei's hand as she was still staring down the hall. It was somewhat concerning that Tei was so curious about the hall, but Sarah hoped she could distract her, make her forget about the imprisoned Sendak.

"Hey, Niruth!" she greeted cheerily, approaching the resting dragon. Her mentor had been spending large quantities of time resting as she tried to extract valuable information from Sendak. Sarah hadn't really gotten a chance to ask about the dragon's progress, what with rescuing her sister and being captured by slavers. "How's it going?"

"Well enough, I suppose. The Galra is being difficult. Hopefully the Altean devices are gathering what I have managed to extract." she raised her head as the party reached her. "It's nice to finally meet you, little ones."

The five children stared in awe at the magnificent white creature. Chi and Aury hid behind Sarah's legs while V'selle and Aukn'ec hovered by her sides. Tei hesitated a moment before building up her courage and cautiously approaching Niruth, one hand outstretched. The dragon carefully lowered her snout to gently nudge the small being's hand. Tei giggled and began stroking her smooth white feathers. Chi ran over, jumping up and down in her attempts to join Tei. The older child took pity on her and picked her up so she, too, could pet Niruth. The other three were more hesitant, but soon all five were happily stroking the dragon. Sarah giggled, clapping giddily, overjoyed with the interaction. She could feel that Niruth enjoying herself; she supposed it had been too long since the dragon had last seen children. It was heartwarming to know that such pure moments could still exist in the midst of war.

Sarah was abruptly awoken by small hands shaking her arm. Groggily, she opened her eyes to see V'selle and Chi, both wearing terrified expressions that immediately woke her up. "What's wrong?" she asked, grabbing her glasses so she could see clearly. Sarah slid off the bed to crouch in front of them at their eye level.

"Tei-tei." Chi whimpered, visibly trembling.

"What is it?" Shiro asked from behind her.

"Tei wanted to see the Galra." V'selle cried.

Sarah's eyes grew wide. Before she could move, Shiro was already on his feet, running out of the room. "Stay in Mani's bed, okay? Where's Aury and Aukn'ec?"

"They followed Tei." V'selle said, climbing into the bed.

Sarah picked Chi up, gently lowering her down next to V'selle. "Stay here, promise?" She waited for them to nod before running after Shiro.

Turning onto the hall, she saw the brothers holding each other, staring at Sendak inside the tube that was slowly draining of fluid. Keith was frantically trying to figure out the controls while Shiro was holding a crying Tei.

"Aury, Aukn'ec, you know where Mani's room is?" she asked, kneeling next to them. "Okay, go to Mani's room, okay? V'selle and Chi are there." she instructed after they nodded. As the two ran off she straightened up and ran over to the other three. "What happened?" she asked when she reached Shiro and Tei, crouching down next to them.

"She doesn't know." Shiro answered, worry etched in his face. "Hey, Mani's here." he said softly to the shaking Tei. "Do you want to go to Mani?"

Teiisa nodded, sniffing, and eased out of his arms as she moved to Sarah's. "Shuush, it's okay…" she said, holding the child tightly. Her eyes watched in horror as Sendak's tube completely drained of the fluid that was keeping him in stasis. Before they could react, the Galra woke and smiled devilishly as the tank opened.

"Sarah, take Tei and go!" Shiro commanded as he and Keith took defensive stances.

Without looking behind her, Sarah picked Tei up and ran down the hall, away from the fighting. She was almost back to her and Shiro's room when she turned a corner and almost ran into Kayla.

"What's going on? Aury came and-" she started before her sister cut her off.

"Sendak got out, we don't know how. Take Tei, I gotta go back." Sarah passed the child off to a flustered and confused Kayla.

"Wait-go back?" she shouted in concern as Sarah turned and ran.

"Shiro's there!"

As she was running, the ship's alarms began blaring. They were so loud she wanted to cover her ears and cry but she pushed on. When she turned onto the hallway she stared aghast at the scene before her.

Sendak was directing Galra troops to take an unconscious Shiro and Keith aboard their ship. Her arrival caught the attention of the other Galra officer, who pointed. As a handful off the bots opened fire, Sarah threw up a quintessence barrier. When the plasma bolts rebounded violently, she hastily pulled it down, not wanting the rebounds to hit Shiro or Keith. She ducked behind an unused pod, straining to listen to Sendak's commands.

"Ignore her for now. We have a good bounty. Let's go."

As the Galra began marching off she peered around and watched as they disappeared out of sight. Thinking quickly, she transported herself after them, disappearing and reappearing in smoke a short way behind them until they reached where the Galra ship had breached the castle's hull. With a quick search over quintessence, she materialised inside a Galra air vent not far inside, pausing to listen as the group boarded.

"Take off immediately. It won't be long before the other Paladins are ready to engage. Lock those two up." Sendak said gruffly.

"Yes, sir."


	61. Chapter 59

"How'd he even get out?" Keith asked, not really expecting an answer. Shiro shook his head. He couldn't figure it out either. He also didn't understand why the castle's alarms didn't sound sooner than they had. Nothing about the predicament made sense.

He was about to open his mouth to speculate further, but a soft voice filled the room, cutting him short. "Shuuush." Sarah's voice said, before she materialised in the cell with them. She knelt down next to Shiro, wrapping her arms around his neck. "You okay?" she whispered, her stormy gray eyes scanning his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What happened? Where's Tei?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I passed her to Kayla. I came back to see how it was going and, well…." she trailed off and he nodded.

"We weren't betting on Sendak having reinforcements." Keith said grumpily.

"That is really weird." Sarah mused, shifting to sit in Shiro's lap so her back wasn't to Keith. "I mean this ship isn't particularly big but still."

"Did you scan it already?" Shiro asked as he brushed some her hair behind her ear.

"Yea. There's like three officers and then a lot of bots. I don't know about you two, but I'd rather not engage that. At least not in my PJs." she chuckled.

"Yea if we can get out without getting too much attention, that would be spectacular." Shiro murmured thoughtfully.

"From what I can tell, that's not exactly an option." Keith said as he stood up and stretched. "Really wish I had my bayard right now."

"I really wish I was in my armour and not sweatpants." Shiro said with a smile. His gaze moved to Sarah and he found her deep in thought. "Hey, what are you planning?"

"There's something I remember reading about once that might help here." she said slowly.

"But…?"

"It's difficult. And you might freak out a little at first. It's….weird and hard to explain." she frowned, biting her lip. "Have you ever heard of astral projection?"

"No." Shiro said at the same time Keith said "Yes."

The couple looked at the Red Paladin, surprised. "I came across a lot of weird metaphysics sites when I was in the shack." he explained with a shrug.

"What is it?" Shiro asked, looking between them.

"It's like….it's kind of um…." Sarah attempted to explain, but found she couldn't even with her hand movements.

"It's like you leave your body and travel around." Keith filled in for her.

"You leave your body….?" Shiro asked, confused.

"Yea, your quintessence. It's really hard to do, you have to be very connected with your own life energy as well as that of the universe's." Sarah said, nodding. "I think i could prep an escape vessel and open the door."

"Is it dangerous?" Shiro asked, observing her carefully.

"Technically all magic is dangerous." she pointed out.

"Sarah…."

"It's no more dangerous than what I usually do." she said assuredly.

"You said I might freak out…."

"Well, I'm leaving my body…." she said, slightly uneasy.

"Oh…..oh." he said when it clicked. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He thought back to the vision nightmare they had shared.

"I can try to find another way…." she whispered, watching his face as he thought things over.

He shook his head. "It doesn't look like we have much of a choice." She nodded, cupping his face in her hands and kissing him gently. He needed that; he wasn't going to enjoy what was coming, he knew it.

Sarah pulled away and closed her eyes, meditating for a few moments. Keith only just barely managed to be patient. After approximately five minutes, Sarah let out a sigh and two things happened at once: a cloud of what looked like lavender glitter rose from her body as the latter went limp in his arms. He had to fight the initial rise of panic he felt, reminding himself of the plan.

Noiselessly, the cloud that was Sarah floating elegantly through the air and out the door through the small window. A few seconds later and the door unlocked and slid open. The glimmering lavender mist-Sarah, he had to to keep reminding himself-did a loop in the air before floating off down the hall.

"Uh, I guess we follow her?" Keith asked, unsure.

Shiro nodded wordlessly, carefully standing, as he was still holding her body. Keith led the way out with Shiro following, trying to focus on Keith's footsteps and not the limp form of his fiance in his arms.

The halls were curiously clear; Sarah had said there were a lot of bots, where were they? A few moments later Sarah stopped outside a door, performing a few loops in front of it.

"Escape pod?" Keith asked, though Shiro wasn't sure how she would answer. She surprised him by opening the door; inside was a small craft similar to what Shiro had used to escape to earth. "It's gonna be cramped." Keith muttered, climbing in.

Suddenly, the alarms began sounding. Shiro squeezed in hastily, being careful not to harm Sarah-Sarah's body-as he did so. Her mist form floated in after, closing the door and launching them before returning to her physical form. He was so relieved when she started breathing again, he was almost crying when her eyes fluttered open.

"Shiro, are you okay…?" she asked wearily.

"Yea, don't worry about me, how are you?"

"Tired." she answered truthfully, snuggling closer to him. "That was really hard. I just wanna sleep…."

He nodded, kissing the top of her head. "You do that, baby." he whispered. He caught Keith's eye as the Red Paladin smiled at them. "What?"

"Nothin." he said, turning back to pilot the craft. "You guys are really cute, is all."


	62. Chapter 60

"Okay, so I think what happened," Pidge began, laptop in hand. "Someone on the Galra ship hacked into our security system somehow and disabled a lot of our protocols. I guess at some point they just stopped, or the castle had some other protocols that kicked into gear…." They trailed off, shrugging.

"I'm sorry I'm not of more use. I was asleep at the time." Niruth said, broadcasting her melodic voice in the head of everyone present. Sarah, Shiro, Allura, and Pidge had gathered in the hanger to try and figure out how Sendak's escape was made possible. "I hope what I managed to extract is useful."

"I'm sure it will be. I'm gonna go look over it now." Pidge assured the dragon, turning on their heel and departing.

"Hey, Sarah!" Kayla called from Darling. She and Oliver peeked out of the craft's open hatch. "Come show me how to get this thing going!"

"Again?" Sarah asked, exasperated. Shiro smiled to himself; she had found an application that helped those with dyslexia, as Kayla and Oliver did, and had told them how to transfer it to their omniphones several times already. Sarah rolled her eyes but jogged over, disappearing inside with them.

"Shiro, if you could go into more detail about your escape?" Niruth asked, gazing at him in a knowing fashion. He had the feeling that she knew what his response would be, but wanted to hear it aloud nonetheless.

"Well Sarah snuck aboard and we were trying to figure out how to escape without attracting a lot of attention…we weren't exactly prepared to fight a couple dozen sentries and four Galra officers." he shrugged as the dragon and Allura nodded, listening attentively. "Sarah had an idea, she called it like…astral projecting, I think?" He paused when Niruth's eyes grew wide in concern. "What's wrong?"

"Tell me exactly what she did." she said seriously.

"Uhm…" he hesitated, sharing a confused and concerned look with Allura. "She meditated….and then…..she said it was her quintessence…..uh…left her body, I guess….?" He winced, recalling the event; it was too much like the nightmare and he didn't like reliving it.

"That was extremely dangerous." Niruth said, her voice wavering slightly. "That is an advanced skill, more often than not the witch would lose themselves in the universe's quintessence flow."

"What do you mean 'lose themselves'?" Allura asked cautiously.

Niruth looked into Shiro's eyes and he knew the answer before she gave it. "They would become one with the universe and….be gone forever."

Allura gasped as Shiro's face drained of colour. Fighting back angry tears, he marched to Darling, Allura trailing after him, worried. Sarah was standing behind her sister, directing her on how to work the application; she looked up when he entered, her smile fading when she registered something was wrong.

"Shiro? What is-?" she began, gasping when he grabbed her shoulders roughly.

"Never again." he said fiercely, fighting back tears. "You aren't doing that ever again. Nothing is worth that." He pulled her into a tight hug, giving in to the tears. "Nothing. Not Voltron, not the universe, nothing is worth losing you."

"I…I'm sorry…" she said in a small voice, burying her face in his shoulder. "It seemed like the best idea at the time."

Shiro pulled back, stroking her cheek with his human hand. "Never again, okay? Promise me." She nodded, her eyes glistening. He pulled her into a kiss, desperate and needy; he already knew what it was like to lose her and would do everything in his power to prevent it from ever happening. "I can't lose you." he whispered, resting his head against hers. "You're my universe."

"And you're mine." she whispered.


	63. Chapter 61

"Okay, Pidge, what'd you find?" Allura asked, looking over the small Paladin's shoulder as they typed away furiously.

"A good deal more than last time, though some of it is fragmented and missing pieces. Like we only got parts of a memory." they said, projecting their laptop screen to the holo-display so they didn't have to crowd around a tiny screen. "Figured out how they found us; Sendak had a tracker in his suit. He was actually communicating with the ship while in the tube."

"What? How?" Coran asked, alarmed.

"Beats me. But I know where he's going." Pidge maximised a window, revealing a strange Galra base on a bizarre, sickly yellow planet.

"Where is that, Pidge?" Shiro asked, his eyes scanning the image.

Sarah leaned over Pidge's shoulder, trying to get a closer look. "Sarah, do you mind?" Pidge said irritably. "I'll send you the damn file."

"Oh, sorry." she said, the back of her neck growing warm. "I just wanted a really close look…."

"Okay, you have the picture on your phone now, look as closely as you want."

"Thanks, Pidgey." she said meekly, pulling out her phone.

"Trying to get the coordinates now…" Pidge murmured, once again typing away furiously.

Sarah grumbled about the small size of her phone's screen and commandeered a side holo-screen, pinching and pulling and dragging with her fingers to look more closely at the image. Oliver and Kayla joined her, pointing at various things while Pidge read out the coordinates to the rest of the room.

"What are those tank things? They look like they're filled with something yellow." Oliver said as Sarah was scrolling. She stopped and zoomed on what they had pointed out.

"Looks like that quint-whatever stuff the druid was messing with that one time." Keith said from behind them, making the three jump slightly.

"They…store it?" Sarah asked, confused.

"Yea, they store it and then a druid zaps it to make Galra fuel." Keith said with a shrug. "What?" he asked when Sarah continued to stare at him, perplexed.

"That's…..how?" she trailed off, turning back to the screen. "They steal it from planets, store it, and turn it into fuel….." She became lost in thought, staring at the screen.

"Is that close by?" Shiro asked as Pidge pulled up a map.

"Ish. You wanna look into it?"

"It might be a good idea." he said, nodding. "See what intel we can nab."

A small strike team consisting of Shiro, Sarah, Allura, and Keith descended to the planet surface in Krisox's vessel, which could go completely undetected both on scanners and by the naked eye. They slipped in through a large ventilation shaft, which emptied out into a noisy maintenance room. Allura and Keith went to find a room to extract information from, while Shiro and Sarah explored quietly, recording their journey through their helmets and streaming it to the castle that orbited just out of the Galra base's range.

"What's with the weird runes?" Lance's voice crackled over comms. It did strike Sarah as odd; on each wall panel was a large, strange symbol. It looked like they spelled something out but she couldn't make head or tail of it.

"Coran, Krisox, do you recgonise them?" Shiro asked, slowing to a stop as they came upon an intersection.

"All I can tell you is that it looks Galra." Krisox answered with a twinge of sarcasm.

"You are so helpful." Sarah said, whose voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Look, the pattern changes this way." Shiro whispered, looking down the hall.

"Pidgey, think you could find something to translate these?" Sarah asked quietly, following Shiro down the hall.

"I can try." Pidge's voice crackled in her ear.

"Look, it changes with the hallways." Shiro pointed out as they came to another intersection.

"It's like street signs. Only…bigger." Sarah said, emphasizing her point with her hands.

"I hope we're following them correctly." Shiro teased as they continued.

"We could always stop and ask for directions."

"Sarah, don't you know guys don't ask for directions?" Lance said over the comms.

"Yea, we prefer to get lost on our own terms." Hunk joked.

"That's enough chatter." Allura said firmly.

Shiro cleared his throat, getting back into a serious and focused mindset. Sarah followed his lead, successfully fighting against the giggles that had threatened to bubble forth.

They reached the end of the hall and came to a stop outside a large door with smaller glowing runes around it. Sarah looked to Shiro, who shrugged, before opening it and venturing inside.

They found themselves in a large, square room with nothing in it. The only noticeable feature was a thick line that ran parallel to the door, dividing the room. Sarah moved further into the room while Shiro moved along the perimeter, each baffled.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Shiro said, staring around, puzzled. "And there's been a disturbing lack of any sentries…."

Sarah nodded, approaching the line. It looked like it was just painted on the floor, nothing but decoration. Her eyes scanned the ceiling as she stepped over it. "Almost like it's a…." she gasped. As soon as she was past the line, an electric forcefield sprung to life, spanning the width and height of the room. Shiro ran over, stopping in front of her, both of them trying to find a way to disable it.

"Humans are so predictable." a voice said from behind her. She spun around, finding Sendak smirking at her.

"This was too easy." a figure cackled from behind Shiro. Sarah didn't need to turn around to know it was Haggar.

"A trap." she murmured.


	64. Chapter 62

Sarah felt absolutely stupid; of course it was a trap. She should've picked up that something was off by the lack of sentries. This was the exact same thing the Voltron crew did last time they extracted Sendak's memories. She had a feeling either he or someone else had put two and two together. But now was not the time to dwell on hindsight.

"I've been waiting for a chance to go head to head with you." Sendak growled. "Wanna see how you'll fare, witch?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, taking an offensive stance. "Yea, whatever, I got things to do." She charged, waiting for him to block her before teleporting behind him, knocking him across the floor with a white slash. He roared, rising to his feet and stampeding towards her, his prosthetic glowing bright and purple. He was so large she slid out of his attacks easily; it was nice being small. His glowing claws sliced the air where she had just been, as she had ducked and rolled behind him.

A few blasts hit the ceiling on the other side of the force field, causing part of it to crumple and fall to the floor. It took everything in her power to not turn around and check on Shiro. She focused on ending it quickly with Sendak and hoping Shiro was holding his own against Haggar.

Sendak raised his prosthetic fist, fist clenched, and hurled it at her. At the right moment, she threw up a quintessence barrier, which caused the appendage to ricochet wildly. While he was distracted, she pushed the barrier forward, slamming him into the wall. She watched as he crumpled to the ground and wait a few seconds to make sure he was down for the count before turning to see how Shiro was faring.

"Where'd she go?" she asked, confused. Shiro seemed fine, but Haggar was nowhere to be found.

"I don't know, she vanished when you shoved Sendak against the wall." Shiro said, panting slightly as he approached the force field. "How do we-? Look out!" His eyes widened as Sendak lunged at her from behind. Sarah smirked, disappearing in smoke just before he reached her, causing him to plunge his Galra hand into the force field. He let out an agonising cry, his arm short-circuiting and falling to the ground half a second before he collapsed himself.

Shiro breathed a sigh of relief. "That was some quick thinking."

"Yea, I was hoping it'd fuck with the barrier though." Sarah said, frowning slightly. A sudden movement caught her eye; before she could react, Haggar dug her electrified claws into Shiro's side, her other hand clamped around his mouth. She cackled as she disappeared with him. Sarah screamed, incoherent, trying again and again to materialise on the other side but found herself unable to do so. Giving up on that, she took a few steps, wrapping a thick barrier of quintessence around her like a bubble, and ran at the field. Though there was resistance, she managed to force herself through, falling to the ground on the other side as her barrier disintegrated.

"Sarah, what happened, we lost you-" Allura began, her voice distorted slightly.

"Haggar has Shiro!" Sarah shouted, running down the hall, not bothering to be quiet or sneaky. When she had to stop to catch her breath, she used it as an opportunity to search the facility and locate Shiro's quintessence. She found him in a strange circular room. She couldn't make out too many details, but he was surrounded by black quintessence signatures; she figured those were the druids. To her surprise, Allura's pink and Keith's red energies were not far away. "Okay, don't be startled." she said, preparing herself. She hadn't teleported to a place she couldn't see directly before, and hoped she didn't end up in a wall.

"Don't be-? Ah!" Allura yelled when Sarah materialised between her and Keith.

"He's this way." Sarah said, taking off down the hall. They turned a corner and she felt Shiro's energy just beyond the door at the end of the hall. She sped up, blasting the door open when she reached so she didn't have to stop.

Inside, Shiro was on a table, not unlike the one she had been on in their nightmare; Haggar and the other druids were backing away, hissing. Before she could get to them they disappeared.

"Where'd they go?" Keith asked, running in, his bayard at the ready.

"It doesn't matter." Sarah said curtly, running to Shiro's side. "Shiro, come on, speak to me."

He groaned, his eyes opening slowly. "What…happened…" He started to sit up but cried out in pain.

"Allura!" Sarah cried, close to tears. The Altean ran over and hoisted Shiro over her shoulders.

"Let's go." she said, leading the way.

Sarah insisted on waiting by his pod, sitting in the sunken center with her arms hugging her knees to her chest. He had already been in for a day; she was getting anxious the longer she had to wait. Now I know how Shiro felt. she thought grimly.

Kayla and Krisox did a good job of keeping her company, telling stories and sharing anecdotes. Allura joined them from time to time, enjoying hearing about their childhood and their home planet. The others came by as well, but less frequently, as they were busy with various tasks. Nonetheless, everyone was very attentive, checking Shiro's progress and assuring her everything would be okay.

She didn't realise she had drifted off until she felt someone stroking her hair. Groggily, she pushed herself up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Shiro!" she gasped softly when her eyes adjusted. She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she hugged him tightly.

"Careful!" Allura said, supporting Shiro when he fell backwards slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Sarah said, quickly pulling herself away.

Shiro chuckled, pulling her back to him and kissing her, soft and sweet. She wanted to stay like this, in his arms forever, but that could not be the case.

"Do you remember what happened?" Allura asked tentatively.

Shiro pulled away from his fiance reluctantly. "I'm not sure…I remember pain. One minute I was in the room with Sarah, and then pain and then….Sarah was there, and I tried to sit but….pain…." He subconsciously felt his side where Haggar had clawed him.

Sarah whimpered, hugging him tightly again. "I'm sorry…"

"There was nothing you could do…" he murmured, stroking the back of her head. "It happened too fast."

"Hey, Hunk says food's ready-well, if it isn't Sleeping Beauty." Krisox teased.

"Sleeping Beauty?" Allura asked confused, as she and Sarah helped Shiro to his feet.

"It's fairytale from earth. A princess is cursed to sleep a hundred years. It's jokingly used with people who sleep a lot or something." Sarah explained.

"Interesting…" Allura murmured.

As the party left the room, Sarah shared a look with Allura; she couldn't place it, but something felt off. It was a deep seated, gut feeling, that only hinted at its existence, but it was there. She was desperate to know what it was Haggar had done, if she did anything at all, before they had barged in. _She must have done something….We'll figure it out._ she thought confidently to herself.


	65. Chapter 63

"What?" Krisox yelled into his phone, causing both sisters and Hunk to jump. They had been playing a board game in the dining room when the Dularian's phone went off, drawing him away. "Avve, you have got to be joking."

Sarah and Kayla shared a confused look as Hunk picked up some game pieces that had fallen when he was startled.

"Yea, no, I'll be there asap. Out." He slid his omniphone back into his pocket and sighed. "You'll never guess what empire has set up a secret base on Vaynov."

"What? Really?" Sarah asked, surprised; she had thought Zarkon left Vaynov alone because of how many cut throats were in the system. She guessed they could really make a dent in Galra forces if they wanted to.

"Galra are on Vaynov?" Kayla asked, tilting her head in confusion. "But I thought they had like agreed to leave it alone."

"Agreed to leave it alone?" Hunk asked as he raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Why would Zarkon not want to conquer something?"

"Vaynov and its planetary system are chock full of the nastiest of the worst." Krisox explained. "They make those robeasts Voltron faces look like nice kruittens. These cut throats may not be massive, but their tempers can be and their track sheet is soaked in blood. Pretty sure theres more of us in and around Vaynov than in Zarkon's entire empire, but no one's bothered to actually check."

"Oh, wow."

"Yea, so Galra being there is highly suspect."

"What are you gonna do?" Sarah asked, watching her brother closely.

"Well I still have my own empire to run. Avve said the other heads are getting together to discuss the next course of action."

"Oddly civilised for criminals." Allura said, her tone somewhat pompous.

"Yea, well, even the scum at the bottom of the barrel have to be organised sometimes." he said, smirking at the Princess, who growled.

"Allura, Krisox said there's a secret Galra base on Vaynov." Sarah said quickly, hoping to dispel the tension.

The Altean's eyes widened. "Really….Is there nothing Zarkon won't take for himself?"

"Well, we don't know what the Galra are doing there. All signs point to that though." Krisox shook his head, chuckling. "Worst mistake ever. If it's one thing you don't want, it's a system full of cutthroats who want your blood."

Allura bit her lip, clearly having an internal battle. "Krisox…" she said slowly after a moment. "Could we come, too?"

Girls / Shiro

A few days later found Shiro, Sarah, Kayla, Allura, and Krisox on Vaynov, preparing for another undercover mission. The Galra secret base was located underneath a nightclub, as were most bases on Vaynov. It was easier to torture information out of enemies when their screams were drowned out by loud bass and people dancing.

The plan was to have a handful of people masquerading as run-of-the-mill club goers enter the establishment and spread out to get an idea of the building's layout. The next step of the plan was murky; the most Sarah could get out of her brother was "Wing it." That didn't sit well with the castle group.

"Degenerates." Allura grumbled under her breath, arms crossed over her chest. "It's absurd to not have a plan."

"I agree, Allura, but this is their turf." Sarah said quietly. The four stood huddled in the corner of a large, dilapidated bar that had long been closed. Krisox was directing his subordinates on what to do if anything broke out. "We need to at least pretend to be respectful." The Princess scowled but remained quiet.

"Alright, let's head out!" Krisox declared, jumping down from the table he had been using as a stage.

It was absolute chaos getting inside. As it was a new establishment, there were a good number of people trying to get in. Once the castle group were in, they regrouped far away from the front door.

"I regret coming." Allura said miserably. "I thought Krisox had some kind of plan….."

"I'm sure he has one, just whether he shares it with anyone is the question." Kayla said, stretching. "Honestly we should decide what we want to do and leave Krisox to whatever."

"Sounds good." Shiro said, glaring at a few aliens who had been checking the girls out, but were now cowering and escaping into the crowd. "Sarah, think you could get a read on things below?"

"I can try, but no promises….this place is going to look like a mess of quintessence I can already tell." She closed her eyes, trying to tune out the noise as best she could, focusing on the energy flow. Sure enough, Her surroundings were impossible to see, what with all the people present and dancing. She tried to venture downstairs in her mind's eye, but she had extreme difficulty navigating. "Okay, I can give you an estimate of how many people…Galra….are down there, but that's about it. There's too much interference."

"Better than nothing." Allura said with a reassuring smile.

"Looked like about seven Galra, and then I think they have someone else down there." Sarah said, returning the Princess's smile appreciatively.

"How can you tell the difference?" Kayla asked, confused.

"Everyone has a different colour. I've noticed that the Galra are all varying shades of magenta."

"Oh, that's cool! What colour am I?"

"Let's try to find a way downstairs." Allura said before Kayla could continue her tangent.

After a thorough search, they came to the conclusion that it wasn't going to be easy reaching the lower level. Every door had at least one bouncer, even the doors that led to the bathroom.

"Can't you just, like, teleport down?" Kayla asked her sister.

"No, I have to see where I'm going. I could end up in a wall or something otherwise. And I don't know about you, but that does not sound like a good time." Sarah answered, her sarcasm a little sharper than she had intended. Her eyes scanned the dance floor before them. She caught Krisox in the middle with various other aliens, enjoying himself; she rolled her eyes.

Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Abruptly looking to her right, she saw a purple alien disappear into what she remembered being a featureless wall.

"What is it?" Shiro asked, looking in the direction she was.

"I think I saw someone walk through a wall." she said, monotone, already walking over to it. When she reached the wall, she found it as blank and dull as it had been when she passed it earlier. Frowning and resting her hands on her hips, she scanned for anything that might tell her where the person went.

"See anything?" Shiro asked when he joined her.

"No." she said, slightly to herself.

"Let's try poking things." Kayla said after she squeezed through a rowdy group. She walked up to the wall and pushed against various areas-random spots on the wall-in the hopes that something would reveal itself.

Sarah thought back to what she had glimpsed-the mystery person had just walked into it. And no one around had taken notice. With barely any notice, she grabbed Shiro's Galra arm, pulling him forward with her, and set it against the wall. The other three gasped when they heard some shift and Shiro's hand sank through the wall.

"Bingo." Sarah said, grinning.


	66. Chapter 64

"Well that's clever." Kayla said, sticking her hand through the wall.

"Looks like a video game glitch." Sarah giggled, stepping through it.

"Sarah-" Shiro started, slightly exasperated; upon reflection, she figured she shouldn't have just walked through not knowing what was on the other side.

Too late now.

On the other side was a dimly lit stairway. It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the change in light level. Sarah took a very careful step down to make room for the others as they crossed the threshold behind her. After the others had joined her on the stairs the wall made a zap noise and became solid again.

"Okay, stay quiet, stay low." Shiro instructed, taking the lead.

"Oh, and we probably don't want the Galra to know it's us." Sarah added quietly. "So no arm, no magic." Shiro looked over his shoulder at her, concerned; she didn't really have much of an arsenal besides her magic. She smiled and nodded reassuringly. He hesitated, but returned the nod, moving forward.

The basement level was grimey, gray, and falling apart. There seemed to be a labyrinth of tight, dark halls that slithered around each other. A thick layer of dust muffled the girls' steps as they silently crept along, listening carefully for any sound. The music from the nightclub reverberated down to them, making it difficult to catch slight noises, even though it was slightly muffled by the walls dividing them.

The doors they passed were opened but the rooms they contained seemed empty. The group poked around inside the first one they came across while Shiro kept watch at the door, but all they found was clutter and trash. They skipped the next two, as they were in same state of disarray as the first.

They rounded a corner, and Shiro came to halt rather suddenly. Sarah peeked around him, but couldn't see anything peculiar, just a purple glow emanating from some overhead lights. "Shiro?" she asked gently.

"Wha-? Oh, right…yea…" he mumbled, disconcerted. He continued without a word, causing Sarah to furrow her brow in concern. She had a suspicion she knew what just happened, and was about to pursue the subject when he stopped suddenly again, this time throwing his arm out to stop her and motioning for them get against the wall. It was then that she heard it; there were three people inside the only room whose door wasn't all the way opened. Sarah couldn't make out what they were saying, but the tone was serious and….wary. Nervous. This struck her as odd; she had never known the Galra to be anything but confident and bloodthirsty.

A second later, they heard heavy footsteps coming from behind them in the hall. The four quickly dove into two open rooms across the hall. Shiro pressed himself against the wall next to the door, Sarah beside him. The steps grew closer, and when they were right outside they heard the person open the door with some difficulty.

"We really couldn't get any other place?" he grumbled to the other three mystery figures.

"You know we couldn't. This is the best place to work covertly. And according to Thace, some of the crime bosses already have a suspicion we're here. Any other place and it wouldn't be a suspicion."

Sarah frowned; this wasn't the Galra modus operandi. She opened her mouth to say something but was silenced by Shiro, who was holding a finger to his mouth and pointing to the corner. Sarah looked and her eyes widened; there was an alien sleeping deeply, covered in various rags and blankets. She and Shiro slowly and quietly crept back into the hallway, moving away from the occupied rooms. Shiro moved a bit faster, as she was in heels. She was on the verge of asking if he saw where Kayla and Allura went when she was again interrupted by heavy footfalls.

She wouldn't have time to reach the room Shiro dove into, not without making noise, so she slipped through the door nearest to her. This room was completely dark, save for the mix of purple and green streaming in from the hall. She stood as flush to the wall as she could, trying to be as quiet as possible. Have I always breathed this loud?

The footfalls grew closer and closer and then….continued into the room she was in. The Galra walked over to a shabby desk, turning on a lamp and sitting in chair that squeaked severely. Sarah clamped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide.

"I told them we couldn't leave a paper trail…." he grumbled, tearing apart a piece of paper almost to where it was confetti. "I don't want to think of what Zarkon would have the druids do if we got caught."

Sarah tilted her head, curious; what was going on? Suddenly, the Galra froze. In one swift movement, he threw a dagger in her direction; she squealed and ducked, covering her head with her arms as if that would have helped. The blade hit the wall where she had just been; it pierced the rusting, decrepit walls, and she stared up at it before moving her frightened gaze to its wielder. He had adjusted the desk lamp to illuminate her along with the rest of the room.

"Who are you, and how did you get down here?" he demanded, standing just out of the light's glow. "Answer me!"

Shaking, Sarah straightened herself up, adjusting the hem of her dress. She was about to answer, but then something else came to mind. "You're working against Zarkon? But aren't you Galra?"

"That is none of your concern. Now answer me. I will not miss a second time." he threatened, revealing another dagger of similar shape and size.

"My name is Sarah, but that doesn't really help you any, now answer my question." she said defiantly.

His lip curled into a snarl, but he did as she asked. "I am Galra, yes. But not all of us agree with the emperor."

"Really now…." she murmured, a smile spreading across her lips as a million plans came flying through her mind.

"I warned you, small one." he growled, flinging the other dagger at her.

Sarah quickly rose her hand in front of her, wincing slightly even though the blade came to a stand still in midair. When she lowered her hand the blade fell to the floor, clanging dully.

The Galra stared at her, his pupil-less yellow eyes wide. "But…what….but….you…."

Both turned as someone came running down the hall towards them. Shiro swung into the room, taking a defensive stance in front of Sarah. "Are you okay?"

"Yea." She could barely contain her glee. "Yea, listen these guys-"

"Champion…." the Galra whispered in awe. "What is a Voltron Paladin doing here of all places?" He looked between the two of them and connected the dots. "You're the White Witch."

"Yes, I am." Sarah said patiently before turning back to Shiro. "These Galra are working against Zarkon." She gently eased him out of his stance into a more relaxed posture. "Do you know what this means?"

"Uh….?" Shiro shrugged, lost.

"We can have allies on the inside! Behind enemy lines!" She was almost hopping up and down now.

The Galra raised an eyebrow, bemused. He tilted the lamp so that he wasn't enveloped in shadow. "I apologise, White Witch. I thought you were one of the degenerates from above." He took a few steps forward and bowed his head slightly in greeting. "I am Thace. I took down the force field when you and the others went to retrieve the Princess. It would be an honour to work with Voltron."


	67. Chapter 65

"That was you?" Shiro asked in disbelief. "But why?"

"Not all Galra think the same. There are those of us who want to end the bloodshed."

"Well that's new." Allura said from the doorway; Kayla peered over the Altean's shoulder, her eyes wide in curiosity. "I don't think I've ever heard of a Galra having such sentiments."

"There have been others in the past. But they rarely convened to discuss their discontent." Thace said, his eyes narrowing slightly at the Princess's subtle iciness.

"What changed?"

"Zarkon has always kept the Dark Witch close to his ear, but he would still listen to his high officers. Ever since Voltron resurfaced, he has repeatedly ignored all but the Witch. She is the only counsel he calls on. This….disturbs us."

Sarah raised an eyebrow, sharing a look with Shiro. "Do you have an idea or a theory what they're up to?" she asked steadily, calmed down from a few moments prior.

"I fear not." he said solemnly.

"Darn. Well, either way, I think we should work together." she smiled around at the group, but became confused when only Kayla returned it. "What?"

"They don't trust me." Thace answered calmly, leaning against the desk. "I do not blame them. I'm quite surprised you have put your trust in me so quickly and easily."

"Oh…" Sarah blinked. "That's….just how I am. I guess I just….I only really see the best in people." She shrugged, though her tone was slightly unapologetic.

"Well, we can't go around inherently trusting everyone we come across. Though I do believe you." Shiro added, nodding to the Galra. "There's just some things we would need to work out."

"And same for us. This was most unprecedented."

Sarah looked down as her phone buzzed and she slipped it out of her secret pocket. "Krisox is wondering where we are. Damn, how am I getting service down here?"

"We have a randomised transmitter." Thace answered, staring at her phone curiously.

"Snazzy." she commented, impressed. "We really should go back up and fill Krisox in. But first…" She approached the desk, looking for a blank slip of paper and something to write with. Shiro subconsciously trailed after her, as she was right next to Thace. The Galra shifted away from the desk, giving her as wide a berth as he could in the small room. "Aha!" she declared. Sarah quickly wrote down her phone number, trying to make her handwriting as legible as possible, before handing the scrap to Thace. "My phone number."

"Your personal phone number?" Allura gasped.

"Well, yea, how else are we to get back in contact? I don't really like Vaynov and would prefer not to have to make frequent trips here."

"But…still…."

"How can you know that our correspondence will not be traced?" Thace asked, confused, as he took the scrap from her delicately.

"I have randomised transmitters on my ship and my phone and they're connected to a network of em. You kind of have to be if you want to track Galra movements on the down low." Sarah said, beaming proudly, as Thace blinked in awe.

"C'mon, we gotta fill Krisox in." Kayla said impatiently.

Sarah nodded and followed Allura as she returned to the hall. "Oh, one more thing." she said, suddenly spinning around. "I don't like phone calls, so just like….text me or something." She waved and departed as the Galra stared after her and her party, confused.

"Okay, where is that good for nothing-" Sarah started after they crossed the hidden threshold; she was cut off when her brother joined them from behind.

"Aww, is that your new nickname for me?" he asked teasingly.

"I don't know, I'll see if it takes." she said severely, though her slight smile gave her away. "Listen…."

After she disclosed their discovery, he rubbed his hands together, pleased. "I knew I could count on you lot."

"What d'ya mean?" Kayla asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"I figured you guys would find the Galra well enough on your own." he answered casually.

"So you used us?" Allura asked, scandalised. "What was the point of the other delinquents?"

"Just in case. I try to plan for everything, Princess." Krisox said with a smirk, winking at her. "We can probably go now."

"Yes, please." Sarah said eagerly, following her brother as he led the way across the dance floor.

"Krisox!" a voiced boomed from above them. The party came to a stop, looking up.

"What do you want, Terr?" Krisox asked, exasperated.

"I want your head." the alien called Terr said savagely as various aliens around the nightclub pulled out weapons.

"Oh, what the fuck." Krisox grumbled, mildly annoyed.


	68. Chapter 66

Shiro pulled Sarah to him, alert and nervous as Krisox just shook his head in mock dismay. "And here I thought we had agreed on a temporary truce and ceasefire."

"It was a ruse. I wanted your guard down. Now, I'll off you and your friends and that'll be the end of Nitro." Terr hissed.

"Okay, first off." Krisox began, casual as ever as if fifty or sixty aliens weren't directing their weapons at him. "You don't touch my sister ever. Thought I made that clear long ago." A few of the aliens surrounding them shifted uncomfortably; Sarah wondered how he made that clear. "Second off, Nitro functions on a hierarchy."

"So?"

"So, that means you will never end Nitro as long as one of us still breathes."

"Us?"

"Yea, us." an alien said to their right. Turning, Sarah recognised him as the moss alien she had seen once before.

"Avve." Terr growled. "I should have known."

"Yea, you should've." he said lightly, stretching his thick, mottled arms.

"I didn't rise to the top by being stupid." Krisox said with his trademark smirk.

Sarah watched in awe as Terr's face crumbled. Aliens all over pulled weapons on those threatening Krisox.

"Shiro," Krisox said, his voice low and quiet. "Get my sisters out of here."

Shiro furrowed his brow in confusion, but nodded, carefully taking Kayla's hand.

"No!" Terr screamed before they could slink off. "This isn't fair!" Sarah's eyebrow rose; the alien was throwing a fit like a five year old. He snatched a blaster from his holster and began firing wildly in Krisox's direction.

Everything began moving too fast for Sarah to keep up. Shiro pulled her low, guiding her, Kayla, and Allura away from the fire fight that had just erupted around them. What few innocent bystanders present were running and screaming wildly. A few surged through them, separating the group.

"Sarah!" Shiro called as a crowd of frantic bodies pushed them away. Sarah fell, quickly crawling out of the way to avoid being trampled. Everything was so loud. She clamped her hands over her ears, scrunching her eyes closed, hoping it would all die down soon.

After what felt like a lifetime, the cacophony faded. Sarah cautiously opened her eyes and looked around; the nightclub was almost completely empty, save for a few scattered bodies. From what she could tell, the fighting had moved to the street. She felt dazed, almost like she was in a dream; it all felt unreal. The sound of a scuffle grounded her.

"Let go of me!" she heard Shiro growl fiercely. Thinking quickly, Sarah picked up a small blaster gun from the floor, trying to shove it's deceased previous owner from her mind. She was surprised her legs weren't a shaky mess when she stood up and stepped around the column she had sought refuge behind.

When she stepped onto the dance floor, the large, grotesque alien tightened his headlock on Shiro. "Don't even, lil wench, I'll pop his head." he growled.

"Sarah…jus, go…" Shiro said with difficulty.

She still felt slightly dazed, taking a few seconds to process everything. "I'll do it!" the alien snarled.

"I believe you." she said softly.

"My species are like the Galra, only two things stop us." he said, tightening his grip; this brought her completely back to the present. "Triumph, or-"

"Death?" she said, suddenly behind him, firing her weapon at close range. She watched as his body crumpled impassively. Shiro gasping for air and falling to his knees knocked her out of whatever bizarre state she had fallen into.

"Shiro?" she asked worriedly, tossing the gun away before she knelt next to him. His eyes were unfocused and wide; she knew what was happening but didn't know how to help. "Shiro, can you hear me?"

It felt like ages but was likely only a few seconds; his flashbacks didn't seem to last very long but she knew they were terrible. He took a few deep breathes before his eyes found hers. "Yea, I hear you…" he said softly, leaning back against a column and rubbing his temples.

"Are you okay?" Sarah whispered, hovering slightly; she knew he probably wasn't and that she should ask a better question but she couldn't think of one, her mind felt completely frazzled.

"I will be." he sighed, motioning for her to come to him. She smiled slightly, embracing him as he embraced her.

Their passionate but on edge kiss was interrupted when Krisox re-entered the nightclub with Allura and Kayla. "Is this really the time for that?" he asked, exhausted. The couple turned, each blushing slightly. "I was telling these two," Krisox continued as Sarah pushed herself to her feet and helped Shiro to his. "You're gonna wanna get going like five minutes ago."

Sarah furrowed her brows, confused. "Why? Are you staying?"

"Yea, I have some things to take care of. Terr and his crew have been well, taken care of. But you guys aren't going to want to be around for the aftermath." he said warily, looking at Kayla in particular. "I'll keep in touch."

Sarah nodded as he jogged off. "Well this certainly didn't go as planned." Allura said wearily.

"True. But we learned there's a rebel cell within the Galra empire and we survived a turf battle." Sarah said, ever the one to put a bright spin on things. "So it wasn't for nothing!"

Allura smiled, nodding. "Let's do as he said and go….I shudder to think what the aftermath will be."


	69. Chapter 67

"That's really coming along nicely." Sarah called over to Pidge and Hunk, who were hard at work building a Lion. The craft was smaller than the others, but still large enough for a pilot to sit inside. The head was mostly complete, and the skeletal structure gave one a sense of the shape and overall size of the craft.

"Sarah, focus." Niruth said patiently.

"Right, sorry." She was lying on the floor in front of her dragon mentor, notes and books full of ancient runes spread out around her. Kayla was sitting not to far away, taking her own notes. Niruth had consented to taking Kayla on as a sort of semi-pupil; she wasn't fully invested in White Magic like Sarah was, but wanted to at least get a few basic techniques down and learn how to not exhaust herself.

"Hey, so did I miss anything?" Krisox asked as he entered the hanger. It had been a month since they went to Vaynov to investigate the Galra rumours, and Krisox had spent most of that time merging yet another smaller criminal group into his conglomerate. He said he'd only return when he was confident everything was squared away, as he could run things from afar through Avve if things were calm.

"Krisox!" Kayla squealed, standing up and running to hug him.

"What, no hug?" he teased, as Kayla returned to her position and he joined them.

"Wha-? Oh, sorry…" Sarah said absentmindedly. In truth, she was connected to Niruth's mind-eye.

"Do not blame her, we are connected and she is finally focusing." Niruth said, slightly teasing her pupil.

"That sounds like Sarah." he said, leaning back on his hands. "And Kayla now that I think of it." He protested when Kayla pinched him, laughing.

A few hours later, Niruth dismissed Sarah from her studies for the day, saying she wanted to check on the ever growing entropy in the universe. Sarah departed, grateful; she felt exhausted. It had been an intense day of studying.

She went right to her and Shiro's room. Hunk had brought her food not too long ago, so she wasn't hungry; just tired. She found Shiro reading to Chi and Tei. He looked up when she entered and smiled; the girls were fast drifting to sleep and didn't notice. By the time Sarah had readied herself for sleep, both girls were asleep and Shiro was now on his way to sleep. Sarah carefully squeezed herself in, resting her head on Shiro's chest as his arm wrapped around her. Life was perfect.

Sarah didn't know what to do. She had never seen her mentor lose her composure before. She hadn't even thought it possible. But when she checked in after breakfast, she found Niruth sobbing. She had checked the universe's entropy and found it overwhelming.

"Is there anything we can do….?" she asked, stroking the dragon's head gently.

"Not that I can immediately think of….if I only knew what the Galra did with the quintessence they steal…"

"Oh!" Sarah exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "We do know! They store it in cylinders and a druid zaps it and it becomes Galra fuel."

"They….store it….?" Niruth repeated, becoming lost in thought.

"What is it?"

"I may have an idea. But I'll need your siblings."

The next two months found Sarah, Kayla, and Krisox spending almost every waking minute with Niruth as she taught them various advanced techniques. The plan was to strike the Universal Hub, as that seemed to be the largest storage facility for quintessence they had come across. While the Paladins formed Voltron and the castle provided cover fire, Sarah, her siblings, and Niruth were going to sneak into where the quintessence was held. Niruth said that, if the siblings could get the stored quintessence moving, she could redistribute it across the cosmos, healing some of the universe of its entropy. Sarah was worried about her mentor venturing out into the vacuum of space, but the dragon quelled her fears easily.

"I move myself along by the universe's natural quintessence flow, and form a bubble of air around myself. I've had to venture out into the void before. I know what to do. You need not fret, dear one."

Sarah smiled, nodding; she was still unsure, but believed that all would turn out well and was determined to see it through.

"Ready?" Shiro asked as he entered the hanger.

"Yep!" she said brightly, giving him a small kiss before joining her siblings in Krisox's small craft.

"Everyone connected?" Allura's voice said over comms. Everyone chimed in, confirming the connection. "Alright. Let's go!"


	70. Chapter 68

"Okay, target engaged." Shiro's voice said over the comms. A few distant explosions confirmed this, and Sarah carefully navigated Darling around the other side of the small celestial body. As she settled her craft gently on the surface, Allura informed them that the majority of the Galra forces were drawn their way, and the small witch party and Niruth should go in now.

"C'mon." Sarah said over her shoulder as her and her siblings ran across the rock.

"Whoa…" Kayla and Krisox said together when they got to the edge; the entire base, Voltron, and the castle were in view. Sarah's siblings had never seen Voltron formed and in action. Unfortunately, now was not the time to stare in awe at a legendary god-like robot.

"Keep going." Niruth said from behind them. "I can somewhat hide my presence but it is not very strong. Let us make haste." The white dragon flew over them, drifting down the cliff to the facility.

Sarah jumped, easing her descent with her jetpack. The group landed right in front of the large door Keith had described. Niruth had already opened the door and was proceeding inside when the siblings landed. They followed quickly, losing their balance on occasion when an explosion rocked the facility.

Inside was a wide hallway, which opened up into a massive chamber filled with a glowing, golden liquid in large capsules. "Disgusting." Niruth murmured, hovering above the pit in the center. "These druids are truly horrible." She sighed and landed on a crane of some sort that was positioned over the pit. "Space yourselves out around the perimeter. When I give the cue, begin."

The three did as they were instructed. When they were well spread around her, Niruth gave them their cue and they began. Though explosions still rocked the outside, their shockwaves seemed to dissipate before they reached them, for which Sarah was thankful; one major false step and they very well would have to start over.

As they continued with their movements-it was almost like a dance, really-the bottommost capsules began to drain, their contents floating to the dragon in the center. After they completely emptied the bottom row, Niruth rose into the air. "Keep at it, I'm going to go above." She flew up to the top of the dome and blasted a hole, forcing the resulting debris out with her. Sarah noticed the ceiling seemed to be made of weak materials and looked almost like a patchwork quilt; that's right. Keith said Pidge barged in to get him. she thought. "Focus, Sarah." Yes ma'am. she thought sheepishly.

Soon the air was full of gold, glittering life energy. "Your doing great." Niruth said as they finished off the second level.

"Sarah, status update?" Allura asked over comms.

"We're about at the halfway mark." Sarah answered.

"They're making excellent progress." Niruth said; she sounded relieved, as though she wasn't completely sure if it would work or not. "As I disperse quintessence, it should create a current that draws the rest out. The last half should take-augh!"

"Niruth?!" Sarah and Allura said together, alarmed.

"It's a druid. Sarah, do not stop."

"But-"

"That's an order. Do. Not. Stop."

Sarah faltered only slightly; she was able to recover quickly, trying not to think of the battle her mentor was waging above them. She winced every time the dragon took a blow, desperately wanting to fly up and help her.

They finished the third row and were just beginning the fourth when Niruth let out a pained gasp. Sarah quickly looked up, her eyes searching for the dragon. All she could see was the druid staring down at them; the creature jumped, ghosting down.

"We gotta move, Kayla, Krisox, MOVE!" Sarah yelled as the druid began to attack. She managed to deflect a few of the energy bolts as she and her siblings gathered in the wide hall. When they regrouped they set off for the still open door, trying to ignore the druid behind them throwing a furious fit as they destroyed the chamber. As they neared their escape, the door began to close, slow and mechanical. Using their jetpacks to give them a boost of speed, they barely crossed the threshold before the doors closed. Krisox climbed his arm, grumbling in mild pain. Kayla attended to him, but Sarah was flying up to find Niruth.

When she reached the top of the cliff face, she found her mentor huddled against a rock formation, severely wounded and bleeding. "Niruth!" she cried, landing a few feet away and running the rest of the way. The dragon was breathing but unresponsive. "Niruth, please…" she cried, falling to her hands and knees.

A crackling in the air announced the presence of the druid. Sarah turned and rose to her feet. A ball of energy grew in their hand, lightning crackling around it. "You don't scare me…" she said, her voice low and deadly. She formed her own, white orbs. But when she clenched her fists they became plasma daggers, glowing white hot, their edges jagged. She warped over to the druid without hesitating, startling them; they blocked her first stab attempt with a barrier, but she cut through it. The two danced across the rocky landscape as Sarah tried to cut them to pieces and they dodged or blocked her attempts. A few times it tried to teleport away, but she was too fast, also right on their heel. Sarah was driven by fury and hatred, pushing herself to her limits without even noticing.

Her window of opportunity came when the druid stumbled. She sliced right through their block, relieving them of their arms. The creature staggered backwards; Sarah felt fear and anger radiate off them. Distantly she heard the others as they tried to reach her, but she ignored them. She watched as anger overtook the druid's fear. They screeched and charged at her. She smirked, bring her right arm chest level and then flinging it and the plasma dagger at the being; it pierced its mask, cutting cleanly through. They crumpled, turning to a pile of ash and cloth.

She could tell her body and mind were protesting loudly, but ignored them to the best of her ability. Turning, she ran back to Niruth. Kayla and Krisox were there, comforting the dying dragon. Sarah fell to her knees, partially from exhaustion, partially from the mounting dread inside her. "Niruth…" she sobbed.

The dragon opened its eyes, gazing at her pupil. "This is not the end, dear. We are not finished…." She paused, taking a painful, ragged breath. "Find me in….the…li…." Niruth exhaled and was gone. Sarah dissolved into sobs, leaning into Krisox as he held her.

"W-what did she mean….find me in the what?" Kayla asked, shaking from crying.

"I don't know." Sarah said, shaking her head. "I don't…." Her gaze trailed off into the distance as Voltron broke up into the lions, mission accomplished. When it hit her, she gasped loudly. "Let's get back to the castle!"


	71. Chapter 69

"Sarah, what happened?" Shiro asked after she parked Darling. She was out before the hatch had fully opened, half running to the hanger that Pidge and Hunk had been working in. Shiro had no trouble keeping up, concern etched in his face.

"Niruth, she…she…" Krisox started, panting slightly as he finally caught up to them. "She fought a druid and…she didn't make it."

"She's not dead." Sarah said fiercely, flat out running now. She's not, she's not, she's not…..

When she reached the hanger she sprinted over to the work in progress lion, falling to her knees panting when she reached it; she was exhausted, she had pushed herself too far, but she just had to make sure….

"Niruth…?" she asked, her voice shaky.

"Wha-? Is she in the lion?" Shiro asked in disbelief when he and her brother reached them.

"I think-maybe?" Krisox said uncertainly, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Niruth…." Sarah murmured, reaching out to touch the mechanical cat's snout. When she did, the craft's eyes lit up and it huffed, but otherwise did not-could not-move. Sarah heard murmurings in her head, ideas that were not hers floated gracefully through her mind. She started crying again, leaning her head against the cool metal. "She says…." Sarah began, her voice thick with emotion. "she is to be called White now….it's a Lion tradition."

"She's really…" Krisox whispered in awe.

Shiro knelt down next to her, one arm gently rubbing her back while he took her hand with the other. She could tell he didn't know what to say; what could one say in such a situation? Nobody could have predicted this turn of events.

Shiro jumped slightly, his gaze meeting the White Lion's in confusion. "Uh-Sarah? She says you-whoa!" She collapsed suddenly against him as her exhaustion caught up with her.

"What's happening?" Krisox asked, on edge.

"She's exhausted, she pushed herself too far." She felt herself being picked up, and more things were said, but by then she had drifted off.

Sarah didn't open her eyes immediately when she next woke. She was comfortable and in Shiro's arms and he was still sleeping; she wanted to stay like this for as long as she could. His soft breathing was beautiful music to her ears. After a moment, she just barely opened her eyes, peeking at his slumbering face. He was so goddamn precious she was afraid she would wake him up with her signature giggles. She had to shove her fist in her mouth to stop herself, but she couldn't stop her body shaking with the suppressed laughter.

"What are you giggling at…" he asked groggily, stretching before opening his eyes. He smiled gently as he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"You were really precious, sleeping." she said, blushing furiously.

"Oh?" he laughed; his laughter was the most pure and good thing in the universe in her opinion. He stared adoringly into her eyes and they just laid there for a while. In a very short period of time her world had been turned upside down. She became a mother, lost her mentor, and almost lost her fiance…In the back of her mind, she registered that something was still off. She couldn't place it, but it was a small, dark gut feeling that wouldn't go away. She tried to shove it out of the way for now. So much had changed, so much was happening….Sarah just wanted to lay here with Shiro forever and ever. But nothing lasts forever.


	72. Chapter 70

"Girls only? Awwww." Lance whined. "Why can't I join the sleepover?"

"Cause you'd probably make inappropriate comments throughout." Sarah said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I promise I won't." he pouted. Keith smacked the back of his head playfully. "Hey…" Lance complained, rubbing the spot, though he couldn't hide his smile.

"Sorry mate, just me, Allura, Kayla, and Pidgey if they feel like it-"

"Pass." Pidge said from across the room.

"Well, if you change your mind ever you can join us." Sarah continued, undeterred. She turned her attention to Shiro, embracing him. "I'll stay with you if you want me to." she said quietly, watching him carefully. She knew his nightmares and flashbacks had been getting worse lately and was willing to drop everything to stay by his side if he asked.

"No, you have your fun." he said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. They shared a gentle kiss before Sarah was dragged away to Allura's bedroom.

The girls had decided to have a fun night, as a relief from everything that happened recently. Sarah and Allura pooled their nail polish collections in the middle of the latters bed, and they spent a good hour trying to decide which colour combinations each of the three should go with. After that choice was made, Kayla shared childhood stories from Earth and then Stiea K2, much to the Altean's enjoyment. They ended up going back and forth, reveling in what few shared experiences they had; love of all creatures, being health-conscious, an affinity for plush toys. After Kayla drifted off, Sarah and Allura turned wartime strategy. Though the war weighed heavily on their minds, Sarah loved discussing very strategies and hypothetical scenarios, and loved it even more if she had someone to talk to about them. Krisox had finally gotten an answer back to them a week ago about whether his organisation would join them in the fight against Zarkon; most members had whole-heartedly signed up. This made Sarah feel a little better about her endgame plan. It wasn't long before they, too, succumbed to sleep.

"At the end of the day, I'll always come back to you." he had said. So confident and sure. When he had his arms around her, all her fears melted away. She thought it would last forever. But nothing lasts forever.

Allura was sobbing at the castle's main controls. She had fallen to the floor a long time ago, when Keith first broke the news. Now the Paladins had joined her, each in various states of grief. All the Paladins except one. The most important one.

Sarah wasn't sure when she had sunk to the floor. All she knew was that her legs felt weak, unable to hold her. Pidge had come over at some point and was hugging her, but Sarah was barely aware of her present environment.

Everything was surreal. She felt hollow and devoid of feeling, awkwardly patting Pidge on the back as they sobbed into her shoulder. The small Paladin was saying something, but it sounded muffled and distant. Sarah couldn't make it out. She felt something slide down her face and realised she was crying. How long have I been crying?

"Sarah?" a voice asked, thick with tears and emotions. Sarah's wide, distant eyes found Allura who was kneeling next to her now. "Are you….are you o-okay?"

Sarah found herself staring at her hands, trying to process the question but for some reason she had difficulty. Was she okay? "I-I….I don't know…." she whispered after a moment. Allura broke down again, wrapping her arms tightly around both Sarah and Pidge. It was then that Sarah realised she had been avoiding thinking about the subject. Almost as if to protect herself, her mind had made a shield of hollow feelings, devoid of emotion. It was easier than coming to terms with the truth.

As soon as she let herself replay the events leading up, she found she was unable to keep herself together. Tears burst forth, and suddenly she was sobbing into Allura's shoulder, loud sobs and cries of "why?" that echoed throughout the ship.

Shiro had always promised he'd come back to her. But he had lied.

Sarah woke with a start, her heart racing. After getting a sense of her surroundings, she able to recall where she was; she was in Allura's bed, Kayla at the end; they had thrown a small slumber party to lighten the mood slightly. Sarah carefully eased out of the bed, so as to not wake up Allura, and tiptoed out of the Altean's bedroom. As soon as she reached the hall, she was running.

It wasn't a prophetic nightmare, she knew that for sure. She still remembered vividly how real that had felt. This was just a nightmare. But, she still found herself needing to see him, hold him, hear him breathing, feel his heartbeat.

She slowed down when she reached their room; she didn't want to wake him up. The door automatically opened with a soft shzzng and she peeked inside. He had a desk light on, providing comfortable dim lighting for him to read by.

"Hey…" he said, looking up when she entered. "Something up?" Wordlessly, she walked over to him and climbed into his lap, snuggling close. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, his arms wrapping around her gently.

"I had a nightmare…" she mumbled, somewhat embarrassed; to her ears, she sounded five.

"You wanna talk about it?" Shiro asked, stroking her hair.

She bit her lip, hesitating; she didn't want to think about it. But she thought it would be wise. "You….died…." she whispered. His arms tensed slightly, holding her tighter.

"It was just a nightmare….uh, right?" he said, suddenly wary.

"Yea, this was just a n-nightmare. Not prophetic." she murmured, relaxing in his arms. "Why aren't you asleep? It's really late…." she asked sleepily, beginning to drift off.

"I….I had a nightmare too…" he said softly, still rather tense.

She frowned. "I'll fight your nightmares now. No more nightmares."

He chuckled, and relaxed slightly. "And I'll fight yours."


	73. Chapter 71

"Are you sure?" Allura asked Pidge for about the hundredth time.

"Well I can't be sure if they're still there, that's just the most recent place they were." Pidge said irritably. They had managed to decode more of the information they had obtained from Sendak, and some of that consisted of prisoner information for a work camp that coincidentally wasn't too far from where the castle was now. "It's worth a shot, and we're close. Even if no one else goes, I'm going."

Allura shared an exasperated look with Shiro. The prison work camp was the largest facility they had come across, with the exception of Zarkon's central command. They weren't sure how to find two prisoners in what could but thousands. But they knew better than brush off Pidge's words; they fully believed the Green Paladin would go by themselves and nothing would stop them.

"We'll go with you. Let's throw together a plan first, so we don't go in blind." Shiro said, nodding reassuringly. Pidge still looked annoyed, but conceded; having a plan would be wise.

Coran had managed to pull up a scan of the facility's exterior. It was on a barren planet covered in smog, not unlike Vaynov. It was decided that the castle would stay out of range, and they would fly over in their lions.

Pidge and Hunk had finished building the White Lion quickly after the events at the universal hub. She was smaller than the other Lions, but otherwise perfectly identical. Sarah had insisted on adding pink and lavender accents on her exterior, and White didn't seem to mind; throughout painting, Sarah talked almost nonstop, rambling from one subject to the next fluidly. Shiro had guided her in a few training drills, as White and Sarah adjusted to the new dynamic they found themselves in. She wasn't an excellent pilot, and there were a laundry list of techniques to learn, but she was pleased with her progress. She noted that Shiro didn't seem so sure; he seemed to be more on edge and anxious with each passing day, and barely anything she did seemed to help. Her having and actively flying a Lion did not help matters.

Allura and Oli rode as passengers with Sarah, so Allura could give the latter some on the fly tips and guidance. Kayla and Krisox grumpily agreed to stay behind with Coran, which eased Sarah's mind somewhat; she didn't want her siblings to have to get anymore involved than they already were. She felt like she was dragging them into this war, and she wanted to spare them.

When they reached the planet, the six Lions landed a good distance from the complex so as to plan their next move. They had a few ideas in mind.

"So do we want to split up and attack at different angles or what?" Keith asked impatiently.

"I don't care, i just want to get moving." Pidge said irritably.

"Let's do that but pick a location inside so we can regroup." Shiro said firmly. "Sarah stay behind me. Hunk, Lance, veer left and go in over that way. Pidge, Keith, follow me."

The lions took off and parted as instructed. The outer defense turrets were quick to target them and soon they were twisting and looping as the avoided the enemy fire raining down upon them. When he was close enough, Keith wasted no time in blasting the turrets close to them, causing them to explode and providing them with an opening.

The four lions set down in a wide open space between the outermost walls and the interior complex. Pidge clawed open one of the walls and they disembarked, running inside. Distant explosions told them that Lance and Hunk were making good progress. The sentries that ran up to meet them were no match for them and barely slowed the party down.

Soon after they entered the large, central mess hall, Hunk and Lance entered from the far side. They grouped in the middle to discuss their next course of action.

"I can probably find a computer panel and extract prisoner information from there, don't think it'll be hard. I already found one." Pidge said, typing a few things into the small, portable laptop they had installed on their armour.

"Let's stay together, at least for now." Shiro said, trailing after Pidge who had already started for one of the doors; the others weren't far behind.

A sudden wave of dark energy swept over her; Sarah stopped in her tracks, frightened and her vision blurred, trying to pinpoint the source. Haggar was close, she had to be…

"Shiro?" she heard Pidge ask, concerned. Sarah looked around as her vision returned to normal. Shiro was clutching his head as if he was suffering a concussion. But something was very very wrong. The dark energy was pooling around him and he began to shake, crying out in pain. She pushed her way past Allura and Oli, carefully approaching him. His body seemed to absorb the darkness, and after a strangled cry he stopped shaking and stood up straight. "Shiro…?" Pidge asked again, wary this time. Sarah couldn't see his face but knew by the small Paladin's expression that they weren't dealing with Shiro at the moment.


	74. Chapter 72

Shiro activated his arm, going to attack Pidge, but Sarah moved quickly, throwing up a barrier that deflected him, causing him to fly across the room.

"Sarah, what the hell?" Keith asked angrily as Oli and Hunk ran over to Pidge who had fallen backwards. He pulled her by the shoulder roughly to face him as Allura and Lance approached Shiro. "What was that?"

"He's not Shiro right now." she said, shaking herself out of his group.

"What do you mean he's…not…." Keith's voice faltered. Shiro had pushed himself to his feet, but his eyes were yellow and pupil-less, his expression mimicking Haggar's.

Shiro charged at Lance, who was closest. Allura ran, colliding with Shiro just before his arm could reach the Blue Paladin. "Sarah, what's happening?!" the Princess yelled frantically, backing away.

"He's possessed. Haggar primed him somehow, she's controlling his actions." Sarah answered, monotone as she tried to think back on her studies for anything on possession. Her eyes widened when White's thoughts reached her, giving her the information she needed. "Allura, I need you to get everyone out."

"What?! I'm not leaving you-" the Altean protested.

"Just DO IT." Sarah instructed fiercely, as she began manipulating the flow of quintessence as White instructed. Allura was taken aback, as Sarah rarely yelled at anyone like that, let alone her. But she nodded, and pulled Lance away with her.

"Everyone get back to your lions." she commanded. "NOW." The others wanted to protest, but must have come to the conclusion that there wasn't anything they could do and so followed the orders they were given.

"But-my fam-" Pidge began weakly.

"We can't right now, Pidge, I'm sorry." Allura was on edge, so the small Paladin complied. "I'm going to come back!" she shouted to Sarah, whose eyes were focused solely on Shiro.

He rose to his feet and cackled just like the witch. "You won't kill anymore of my druids." he said, his voice warped. "I'm going to make sure of that."

"I do as I please, witch. " she growled as they circled each other. "Now I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

"Can't do that, White Witch. This will end in one of two ways." he stopped, powering up his arm. "Either he dies, or you do."

He wasn't sure what happened. One moment he was following Pidge, the next he was being consumed by darkness. He was reminded of the darkness Haggar had surrounded him with when they went to rescue Allura. But it couldn't be the same, could it? Haggar couldn't be there, of all places, of all times….

But how else was he supposed to explain the darkness? He felt like he was almost suffocating; it enveloped him so completely, and he couldn't see or hear or feel anything at all. Where was he? He couldn't remember how he got to the darkness. Had he always been consumed by it? He couldn't remember what it was like before, or even if there was a before. It felt like he was trapped in the thick, all-consuming darkness. It was all he knew, all he remembered, all he could think of.

"C'mon White, I could use a bit more of a plan…." Sarah grumbled, as she teleported around. Her Lion had told her to wear him out; if he was weakened, they had a better chance to drive out the witch. But White hadn't told her how to drive out the witch. She delivered blows she knew he could recover from, though she didn't expect him to recover in seconds; she got the sense Haggar wasn't feeling whatever pain was inflicted on his body, and was willing to use him until he dropped dead.

Sarah noticed her reaction time faltered slightly and realised she was wearing herself out faster than him. And considering Haggar was in control and unaware of his exhaustion, she knew the odds were not in her favour if she kept it up. She wasn't a match for his strength or speed or dexterity; all she had was magic. And she was running low on that.

"Any day, now!" she hissed, just barely ducking in time to avoid his blazing purple appendage. She rolled away, smoothly transitioning to a run, hoping to get a good amount of distance between them. In no time he was chasing her, catching up quickly.

"C'mon, White Witch! You aren't putting up much of a fight!" he cackled.

"Goading doesn't work on me, sweetheart." Sarah yelled over her shoulder before teleporting to the opposite end of the mess hall. She was panting now; she needed to end it now somehow. "White, please!" she cried. Suddenly, a vision of sorts played in her mind's eye; it was a special technique White was showing her. "Worth a shot." she murmured. She brought her arms up, forming a wide arc, clasping her hands for a brief second, before drawing them down. In a bright flash of light, a golden arrow formed. Shiro was almost upon her again and she aimed quickly, releasing a blinding light arrow.

A bright flash of light drove away the darkness he had been enveloped in. Suddenly, Shiro could feel his body, move it of his own volition. As the light faded, the world around him came into focus. He was so confused; where was he? He had no memory of how he got there or what he was doing. A weak intake of air drew his eyes downward.

Sarah was there in front of him, but something was wrong, something was very wrong. She started to fall and he wasted no time in catching her. That's when he realised what had hurt her; his Galra hand was embedded in her side. He quickly pulled it out, staring at her blood on his fingers in horror. He fell to his knees, holding her with his human hand, unable to look away from his Galra appendage.

A door opened somewhere in front of him. Shakily, he looked around and saw Allura running over. "Allura!" he cried, his voice cracking. He felt tears streaming down his face but it barely registered. Sarah was wounded severely, possibly dying, and it was his fault. "Help me….please….." he sobbed.

Allura gasped when she got close, her hands jumping to her mouth in horror. She somehow managed to recover quickly, though her hands were shaking as she knelt down next to them.

"P-please…" he pleaded with her. "I-I….I don't…..what have I done…."

Allura didn't answer, her eyes glued to his hand, her face pale and frightened.

"Shiro!" Keith's voice called out.

This seemed to snap Allura out of her trance; she looked down to the unconscious Sarah and gently began pulling her away into her arms. Away from him. He was dangerous. He did this to Sarah. "I'm going to get her into a pod." Allura said, slightly frantic, when Keith reached them.

The Red Paladin looked between Sarah's grievous wound and Shiro's still bloody hand and his face drained of colour. He knelt down next to Shiro, gently resting his hand on the Black Paladin's shoulder. He realised he was shaking from his sobs, and his vision had become blurred from tears. "What did I do…."

"H-hey, it….it wasn't you. It wasn't you. It was…it must've been Haggar and the druids, they….Sarah knew that, she knows that…." Keith's voice became shaky, accidentally using the past tense, as if she was already….He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought. "C'mon, we gotta go, we need to get out of here…"

Keith almost had to drag Shiro to his feet, towing him along as the Red Paladin ran. Shiro didn't see any point. He deserved to be left behind. He wasn't worth saving. He couldn't hear what Keith was saying, until he mentioned Sarah's name.

"Look, she's not gone, Allura's getting Sarah to a pod, now come on, man….don't you want to be there when she wakes up?"

Keith seemed so confident she would be okay…Shiro wanted to believe it, and he wanted to make sure she did make it; he resolved to watch over her and wait until she woke, then leave her's and everyone else's life forever. He didn't deserve their friendship, he didn't deserve to be a Voltron Paladin, and he didn't deserve her love.


	75. Chapter 73

She knew when it happened. She was connected with her sister in an indescribable way. They had been since their parents first started teaching them White Magic. Krisox didn't pick up on it until she felt dread pool in her stomach. Moments later, Allura was yelling frantically through the comms, giving Coran instructions. He wasted not time in obliging, and Kayla and Krisox followed him to the cryopod room. They didn't know of what use they could be, but they knew this was the room they needed to be in. Kayla knew she wasn't gone; she didn't want to imagine what that felt like, but she would be able to tell. Krisox was on edge as they waited for them to return, wringing his hands anxiously.

The two only knew that the party had returned when Allura came rushing in, holding an unconscious Sarah in her arms. Coran opened the pod and helped her ease Sarah into it. After she closed it, Allura went through the settings, double checking them as her hands shook. Kayla joined the Altean, looking at her sister; she looked so peaceful, like she was sleeping. "How long….?" she barely whispered.

"I…I'm not sure." Allura answered, still frantic.

"You absolute BASTARD!" she heard Krisox scream in rage. Looking around she didn't see him, but she heard Keith's voice addressing him from the hall. Jogging out, she found Shiro on the floor, sobbing, while Keith was holding Krisox off.

"Krisox, STOP." she commanded angrily.

He turned to her, still angry. "He did that to her!" he said, his voice cracking slightly.

"I told you, he was possessed by the Dark Witch, do you think he would intention-intentionally do…that…?" Keith said, fiercely at first but his voice faltered.

"Well…if she wasn't with him, she wouldn't be mixed up in all this in the first place! She'd be-"

"KRISOX, ENOUGH." Kayla shouted, her voice echoing through the castle. Her brother froze, shocked; Kayla typically wasn't one for anger. "Everyone here was either dragged into this war or forced into it; one way or another, none of us had a choice. Except," she took a deep breath before continuing. "Except for Sarah."

"What…what do you mean?" Krisox asked, calmer as he was more confused than angry.

"I mean she chose to be an active participant in this war. She could have just….not. And then yea, maybe later she'd be taken prisoner like we were at home. But she joined willingly before it came to that."

"I still don't…what am I missing?" her brother asked, getting irritated.

"Why do you think she left home?" she asked, smiling sadly. "She joined an online community that tracked Galra movements. And, more importantly, Zarkon himself. She didn't want anything to be traced home, so….she left."

"Why would she do that?"

"Besides curiosity, you mean?" Kayla asked, somewhat sarcastically; Krisox rolled his eyes. "She was also tracking dead planets. There have been a rise in them recently, planets that have mysteriously had the life sucked from them."

"Hey, yea, she showed us a map once." Pidge said; Kayla almost jumped as she hadn't noticed the small Paladin. "It traced Zarkon's estimated movements and put it with pin points marking confirmed dead planets."

"What the hell does this have to do with anything?" Krisox asked, getting angry again.

"Krisox," Kayla said slowly and seriously. "Zarkon has been draining entire planets of quintessence. We don't know how. But without Sarah and the others, we wouldn't know. We may not know the full scope of Zarkon's power, but we can get a better idea thanks to them."

"An entire planet….?" Krisox whispered, horrified. "How?"

"We don't know." Keith said tentatively.

The group stood in a contemplative silence for a few moments; the only sounds were Shiro's soft sobs.

"Just…." Kayla started, breaking Krisox out of his reprieve. "Just don't get mad at Shiro, okay?" she said softly, hugging her brother. "I don't think you've seen just how much she loves him."

"I've seen it, I know it." he sighed, kissing his little sister's head. "That's why it scares me so much…that kind of love can totally destroy a person."

"Or it can build them up and help them take down empires."

"You seriously think she could take on the entire Galra empire?" he asked skeptically.

Kayla pulled away, observing him shrewdly. "You don't?"


	76. Chapter 74

He didn't sleep over the following few nights. Or what he thought were a few nights; he lost all sense of time. He never left her side. Shiro was determined to make sure she came out completely healed. When he was certain of that, then he would leave. He was dangerous, a Galra weapon that could go off at any moment. It wasn't safe for anyone to be around him, and he longed to go, to distance himself and save his loved ones from further harm. But he couldn't live not knowing whether or not Sarah survived his attack.

Kayla and Krisox rarely left, sleeping against their sister's pod. Shiro intentionally stayed on the other side of the room from them. Occasionally he would glance over and see Kayla crying and the guilt in his stomach doubled. He really was a monster. Krisox was right to be so protective.

Allura, Coran, and Hunk visited at meal times almost like clockwork. At first he noticed Allura was wary of him, as if she was afraid he might go off on someone else; he didn't blame her. Shiro would tense when Hunk delivered food, afraid of getting to close to anyone. For the first two days, or what he assumed were two days, he didn't eat anything. It didn't take long for him to feel hunger pains, but he ignored them; he saw them as part of his punishment for almost killing the love of his life, his universe, his everything….He had almost lost her forever and it was his fault.

On approximately the third day, Keith accompanied Hunk in delivering a plate of food. Again, Shiro turned it down, but Keith sat next to him and insisted.

"What good is it to starve yourself?" he asked angrily. "You're making yourself suffer for no reason, I told you, it was Haggar. We all know that, Sarah knows it-Shiro," He looked up as Keith's voice became soft. "What's it going to take to convince you this isn't your doing?"

Shiro felt his eyes begin to water and looked away. Keith sighed wearily, but didn't leave. "At least eat something." he grumbled, shoving the plate towards him. Shiro stared at the plate for a long time, trying to make up his mind; it would do no good for him to die of starvation, at least not in Sarah's presence. He saw a hint of a smirk on Keith's face as he tentatively began to eat.

"She should be ready to leave the pod tonight." Allura said, relieved, the next day.

"She'll be okay?" Kayla asked, rising to her feet.

"Yes. She might have to rest outside the pod for a while, but yes, she's going to be okay." The Altean was almost knocked off her feet when Kayla jumped into hugging her. The girls laughed and cried; it was almost as if a heavy burden had been lifted. But not for him; his guilt remained.

"See? She's gonna be fine." Keith said, sitting next to him. "You don't have to feel guilty anymore, man." Shiro nodded, but inwardly, he disagreed.

He was so so so relieved she was going to be okay. Still, he didn't want to leave until he saw her conscious and moving and laughing….he would miss her laugh. He smiled as he fondly remembered all her different laughs. She had one for every situation, and each was different and beautiful.

The room was particularly crowded that day. Oliver and Allura were chatting animatedly; Lance challenged Krisox to arm wrestles and consistently lost; Pidge had hooked their laptop to Sarah's pod and was monitoring her vitals in real time; Kayla and Hunk were discussing various recipes to try and make. Keith seemed determined to not leave Shiro alone for even a second; he got the sense the Red Paladin knew what he was planning. It didn't matter, nothing was going to stop him. He was leaving to protect his loved ones. Their safety mattered more than him.

When the time came, he felt his gut clench in apprehension. He was afraid he wouldn't be able to help himself and would rush over to hold her in his arms. When it opened, Allura was immediately there, helping her friend out. He watched afar as she was escorted to Allura's room, already cracking jokes and teasing the others. He smiled sadly; he would miss that, too.

Fighting back tears, he walked to the room they had shared, and set about packing his few belongings. Luckily the kids were in Allura's room; the Princess had let them stay there for the time being, as they hadn't wanted to sleep alone for the past several days.

It wasn't long before he was in the hanger, get one of the small pods ready. He didn't hear Keith enter and visibly jumped when the Paladin spoke.

"She's asking for you, you know." he said, a hint of anger in his tone. He glared at Shiro for a long time, his arms crossed over his chest. "You're being incredibly stupid, you know that?"

"No…" Shiro said, his voice slightly hoarse; he had barely spoken a word since Sarah went in the pod. "I'm dangerous. It's safer if I left."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Keith countered viciously. "It wasn't you, Shiro. It was Haggar. You are playing right into her hands, blaming yourself and running away. She wants to weaken us, and especially, Sarah." Shiro looked away as tears began rolling down his cheek. "Did you think about what you leaving would do to her? Don't you want her to be happy?!"

"Of course I want her to be happy…" Shiro said softly, his voice cracking slightly.

"Then c'mon already, she wants to see you." Keith said, grabbing Shiro's hand and pulling him.

Truth be told, he was afraid. He was afraid to be in the same room as her and the others. Frightening thoughts of his arm glowing and him attacking the others flashed in his mind and it took all he could to not violently pull away from Keith and leave.

When they reached Allura's room, they found only the Princess and Sarah, chatting conspiratorially; the two were thick as thieves. Keith knocked on the wall to announce their presence; Sarah looked around and her face lit up beautifully and all he wanted to do was break down and beg for her forgiveness.

"We'll pick this up later." Allura said, rising off the bed. She paused when she reached Shiro, as if she was deciding something. He was startled when she hugged him, and wasn't sure if he should return it but before he could react she had let go. "I've missed you, Shiro."

"We all have, man." Keith said, patting him on the shoulder. Shiro felt at a loss for what to say; miss him? He hadn't gone anywhere….

After they left, Sarah held out her hands, wanting him to come to her. He hesitated, but decided to just kneel by the bed's edge. "Your hands, Shiro." she said patiently.

"I-I…I don't…" he stuttered, unsure of how or what to say.

"You aren't going to hurt me." she said confidently. He looked into her beaming face and completely broke down.

"I'm so sorry!" he sobbed, burying his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry…"

She gently took his hands in hers, moving them from his face, before framing his face with her soft hands, he had forgotten how soft and beautiful she was…"It wasn't you, Shiro. I think, somewhere, you know was that witch. You wanna know what she said?" She paused, stroking his cheek. "She said 'either he dies, or you do.' And you know what happened? We both survived."

"B-but…you almost…I could have…" he began; she cut him off with a finger to his lips.

"You want to know something curious Kayla pointed out?" she said as if she were sharing an interesting fact she had found online. "Almost all of my vital organs were completely untouched." He frowned, confused; where was she going with this? "The witch was very precise in her attacks. There's no way she would have missed her mark." Her eyes twinkled as if she had found one of the universe's secrets. "Do you know what that implies?"

"No…?" he said, his voice shaky from crying.

"Even when you were possessed, there was a little bit of you present. And you could never mortally harm me. You caused her to miss. You saved my life."

His eyes were wide in disbelief. "What?" he murmured. "But-I hurt…"

"It could have been a lot worse, Shiro." she said grimly.

His gaze moved to his hands; had he really….? "But…still, what if she-she does it again?" he asked, looking back into Sarah's enchanting eyes.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." she said airily. "That spell I hit you with destroys dark magic. And protects against it." She playfully tapped his nose. "Ha, I can totally picture her face, she just throws a tantrum like a five year old." In spite of everything, he laughed. And she laughed with him.

Shiro and Sarah spent the rest of the day together, Shiro resting his head on her chest and snuggling close with Sarah stroked his hair. They talked about whatever odd thing popped in her head; she could change subjects at the speed of light and it could easily be overwhelming if he hadn't almost lost her. He didn't know when he drifted off, just that when he next woke Sarah was sleeping peacefully. He moved to lay next to her on her pillow, so he could watch her serene, slumbering face. He was starting to think that, perhaps he wasn't a Galra monstrosity. How could someone as pure and gentle as Sarah fall in love with a monster? No, he rationalised with himself. She wouldn't love me if she saw Galra evil. I can't be all bad. And he wholeheartedly believed it.


	77. Chapter 75

After all the chaos and close calls the team had had recently, it was agreed a small vacation was needed. Keith initially protested, insisting they had a universe to save, but Allura reasoned with him.

"If we keep going we'll run ourselves ragged and we won't do the universe any good. It's healthy to take a break from time to time. We just need to relax for a short while, recuperate." she had said, browsing local star systems.

"It could be fun! Maybe we can go swimming. Or…other activities." Lance said, throwing an arm around his boyfriend. His eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "If you guys do the hanky-panky, just make sure its far enough away that we don't have to hear it, yea? Cause that's gross." she scrunched up her nose for emphasis. Lance and Keith turned bright red as Pidge almost fell over from laughing too hard. Kayla shook her head as Krisox actually did fall over from laughing too hard.

Soon enough, Allura found an uninhabited, mostly unexplored planet and guided the castle there. It was beautiful and dream-like, very similar to the planet Shiro had proposed on. The Princess settled the castle next to a serene lake just as the system's star began to sink below the horizon.

When they disembarked, it was no surprise when Lance and Keith went off together nor when Sarah and Shiro did the same; it was mildly surprising that Allura and Oli chose to walk along the lake's edge together. But, they had been getting fairly close over the past few months and Allura seemed more relaxed and at ease when Oli was around.

Shiro and Sarah walked around the lake to the opposite side, where a glorious waterfall spilled over a cliff. They carefully climbed up the hill to the top of the cliff; Sarah was still healing and had to avoid unnecessary exertion. When they reached the top, the planet's two moons were overhead and the entire sky was full of stars and other celestial bodies. They decided to stargaze, laying down opposite each other with their heads beside the other's. They each took turns making up constellations and backstories, a fun game they often played.

"Hey, Shiro?" Sarah began during a peaceful lull.

"Yea?"

"Put your hands in mine, I wanna try something." she said, as she laid her hands face up on either side of their heads.

"Okay…" he said, curious, as he complied.

"Maybe give me a sec." she grumbled. "Okay. Ready?"

"I guess. For wha-?" Suddenly, memories flooded his mind, but they weren't his; they were Sarah's. Of him. Somehow she was playing them in his head, as though they were home videos.

First was when they first met, after Sarah had boarded the castle in Darling, whose navigation system had become fried. He felt something in his core; it was almost like dejavu. Before he could contemplate it, the scene changed. They were planning a mission and she overheard the discussion. He felt a nervous hesitation fill him and it clicked; these were Sarah's memories and her emotions. He watched from her point of view as she shared some obscure information she had on the planet they were trying to free. He complimented her, as he was impressed by just how much she knew; he remembered that being the moment he started seeing her differently, possibly as more than just a teammate. He was surprised by the change in her emotions; she went from nervous to utterly elated in the few seconds it took him to compliment her. The scene changed again, and he saw himself below a platform that was shaking occasionally. He recalled this was her first mission; it had ended up going sour, but she had held her own and followed orders well. He saw himself urging her to jump, assuring her he'd catch her. When she landed in his arms, he saw as his face grew slightly pink, and remembered how flustered she had been after that; he barely noticed because he himself had gotten flustered; by that point he had full-on crush. Next was their first kiss, on the Black Lion's head after a night of stargazing.

And on it went. He watched memory after memory and felt the growing love she developed for him. It was deep and confusing and he could feel her struggle to verbalise it multiple times, but it was strong and resilient. He felt her bone-chilling terror over the thought of losing him, the warmth she got when he laughed, the peaceful happiness that filled her with pure joy as she watched him sleep. How overwhelmed she was when he proposed.

And then the memories faded and he saw the stars again. He wasn't sure how long it had been, but the moons had definitely shifted their position in the sky slightly.

"It worked, right?" she asked tentatively.

"Yea…." he said, his voice thick with tears; he hadn't realised he was crying.

"You okay? Are you crying?" she asked, concerned.

"They're happy tears, shut up." he joked, quoting her. She laughed and he thought about how there could be no purer, sweeter sound in the universe, which gave him an idea. "Hey, can you do that but reversed?"

"Hmmm….I can try." She rolled over to push herself up, pulling her legs to her so she could sit cross-legged. He sat up as well, mirroring her. "Lemme just get some things in order." she murmured as she closed her eyes, meditating to focus herself. He hoped she could; he had just felt the true depth of her love, something she couldn't quite verbalise or show, but he had always had an idea of. He wanted to share with her now.

"Okay, you need to focus on the memory and play it out in your head, and I'll pick up on it." she said after a time, opening her eyes and extending her hands. He nodded, taking her hands in his. He closed his eyes, thinking quickly about what memories he wanted to share.

He replayed the scene where she had given them obscure information, only now from his point of view. He hoped he conveyed his feelings well; how in awe he was of her vast knowledge, how he started having feelings for her. He then moved onto the memory where he completely fell for her; he and the Paladins returned from a bad training session, as everyone was bickering one way or another. They were teenagers after all, and sometimes teenagers have their mood swings at the same time. Sarah had picked up on the negative mood and talked to each Paladin individually, hearing them out in full. Once she had heard all sides of each story, she somehow managed to persuade them to forgive one another. He had gone to take a shower and expected four moody teens when he got out, not four teens laughing raucously with Sarah. Her ability to always see the bright side of all situations, her patience with the other Paladins, and the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed…..He fell for her head over heels then and there.

He suddenly felt her hugging him and opened his eyes. "Uh-?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she said quickly, pulling back a little; her eyes glistened in the starlight. Sarah stroked his cheek, and laughed. "I'm a mess."

"You and me both." he said gently, pulling her back to him. He kissed her sweetly, but passionately, full love and emotion. Soon she was in his lap and he felt himself getting lost in her lips, her touch…then an idea occurred to him. "Hey…" he murmured, panting slightly. "Why don't we get married tomorrow?"

She blinked, her face beautifully flushed. "B-but…my parents….?" she asked, confused.

"No, I know, just….a small ceremony. And we can go all out….after." He began softly kissing her neck. "Please?" he whispered.

"Sure…tomorrow…" she said, melting in his arms.

The next day they were unexpectedly visited by Nyma and Rollo, who were looking for Krisox; something had gone wrong with the transaction of their bounty, and the Dularian had apparently assured them he could fix it but he had to do it in person. When they found out Sarah and Shiro were going to have a small ceremony that night, Rollo insisted on staying. All day, Lance eyed them suspiciously, Keith by his side. Pidge was once again entranced by their robot and Hunk just tried to avoid them altogether. Shiro and Allura were more civil, but kept a sharp eye on them. Sarah, Kayla, and Oli were the only ones who were genuinely nice and accommodating, as they hadn't been wronged by the bounty hunters. Sarah had a tendency to see the best in everyone and believed it would triumph over their worst, which, she had again and again admitted to herself, could make her a touch too trusting. But she didn't want to be any other way.

She spent most of the day trying to write out her vows, but found herself having great difficulty. "I don't know how to put emotions into words!" she grumbled, tearing the sheet she had been working on out of her notebook and scrunching it up into a ball, tossing it. "Can I just like….I don't know, throw down some memes? Would that work?"

Kayla laughed. "No, I don't think so dude."

"Maybe try drawing it out and we could help you find words describing that….?" Allura offered, shrugging.

"But how do you draw a complex, abstract emotion?" Sarah groaned, falling back on the couch.

"I'm…sure I don't know. I'm going to get ready myself. I, too, have to figure out what I'm going to say." the Princess said, smiling encouragingly to Sarah as she left.

"Ugghhh just let me dieeeeee." she whined, rolling onto her stomach.

"Rest in peace." Kayla said without looking up.

Sarah felt almost overwhelmed with happiness. She couldn't stop smiling as she looked into Shiro's loving eyes. He squeezed their held hands as Allura began the the ceremony. They hadn't been sure what kind of wedding ceremony to go with, as Sarah was unfamiliar with most Earth traditions and Shiro didn't have strong feelings either way. They wanted to keep it simple, and so decided they would just exchange vows and have Allura officiate.

"Okay, who would like to say their vows first?" Allura asked after she finished her part.

Though she was blissfully happy, Sarah was also nervous; everyone was watching.

"I'll go." Shiro said, his voice gentle and soft. "Sarah…before I met you, I never knew life could be filled with so much joy and love. I never knew I could be so happy, even in the midst of war. I went through hell and never thought I'd ever see pure good in the universe…and then I met you and fell in love with you…" He paused, trying to hold his happy tears until he finished, but losing the battle. "As long as I live, I swear to love you, protect you, fight for you, hold you close…I will do everything in my power to make you happy and give you the blissful life you deserve. You have my heart, my soul, my everything, forever."

Both of them were having trouble holding back their tears by now. Shit. she thought. It's my turn. He squeezed their hands again, smiling encouragingly. "I love you so much…." she began, her voice shaking somewhat from crying and nerves. "My world was so small and confined and I didn't even know….and then you gave me the universe. And I'm just so lucky because you understand me, in ways no one ever has before. I want to stay by your side forever." She didn't wait for Allura to declare them husband and wife; Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply, losing herself as he held her tightly, lovingly. When they pulled away to breathe, both became a laughing, crying mess.

"I declare you husband and wife." Allura said, barely holding back her own tears. Kayla came running up the steps to them, almost colliding with Sarah as she hugged her sister tightly. The other Paladins, Coran, Krisox, Rolo, and Nyma joined them, congratulating the couple. Throughout it all, Shiro had one arm wrapped around Sarah, holding her close. She wanted to stay this way forever.


	78. Chapter 76

A few days after the ceremony, Allura and the others insisted Sarah and Shiro go out and have fun with just the two of them. Lance referred to it as a "mini-honeymoon". Krisox suggested a planet that had a reputation of being the go-to party destination. He quickly picked up on his sister's trepidation and brought up a few pictures showing beautiful neon light sculptures that lit up the night. She was sold.

The couple took Darling through the wormhole Allura made for them; when they were ready to return they need only call and the Princess would open another to bring them back.

The planet seemed to be one big, sprawling metropolis, almost like Stiea K2, except there was a very pronounced emphasis on having a good time. Electronic dance music spilled out of nightclubs that were on almost every single corner. The pictures Krisox had pulled up didn't do the sculptures justice; they were massive and everywhere, undulating as if with the wind. Sarah and Shiro spent the first couple of hours exploring; there was so much to see and they weren't sure if they'd have another chance.

Sarah pulled Shiro into a club they passed when she recognised the beat. Though the glowing dance floor was crowded, they managed to squeeze in, and the close proximity didn't seem to bother Sarah. They danced through several songs, until during one song Sarah found she couldn't keep her hands off Shiro.

They slipped out of the crowd and through and alley door. Shiro held her against the wall, kissing her hungrily as she held his hips tight against hers. When they broke for air, his lips made their way to her neck; she groaned in pleasure, wrapping her leg around his to hold him closer. Shiro hiked her leg up by the thigh, rolling his hips against hers. His lips returned to hers, both lustfully hungry as one of her hands reached his neck, moving to lace her fingers through his hair.

"I always found human mating rituals to be superfluously time-consuming and elaborate." a familiar voice growled out of the darkness at the other end of the alley.

"You have got to be kidding me." Sarah said irritably, as Shiro broke away, turning to face the Galra soldier approaching them. "How in the fuck," she began, as Shiro activated his arm and she created a white orb in her hands. "did you even find us."

"I don't think that matters right now, Witch." Sendak spat, emerging from the shadows.

"No, I think it does." Shiro said, his voice commanding and firm.

"Either way, you aren't getting an answer from me." the Galra said, his lips curling into a sickening grin.

"What do you want?" Sarah demanded, not liking the way he was looking at her and her husband.

"You made a fool of me. I know I'll be forgiven of this dishonour if I bring your corpses to Emperor Zarkon. Tho," he added thoughtfully. "the Witch might want you alive." He nodded at Sarah. "Wonder what experiments she'd perform? You want to find out?" He laughed before launching his large weaponised arm at them.

Thinking quickly, Sarah surrounded her and Shiro in smoke, causing them to seemingly vanish. When Sendak turned around, multiple Sarahs came into existence, surrounding him. Before he could try to decipher which Sarah was real, Shiro came bursting out of the darkness to engage him.

The two worked surprisingly well, with Sarah providing distractions that kept Sendak on his toes, causing him to trip a few times. Still, it was a very even match, what with the close quarters and the Galra's overly large arm.

Sarah gasped when Shiro was thrown down the alley. "Hey!" she yelled angrily, sending a slash of energy his way. Sendak dodged it, and she watched in horror as it knocked Shiro off his feet. In a curtain of smoke she was on her knees, by his side. "Ohmygod, ohmygod, are you okay?" she cried, helping him up.

"That really does hurt." he said, half joking as he clutched his midsection.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she babbled, her eyes wide and apologetic. "I'm sorry, I'm so-aahh!" Out of nowhere, Sendak's Galra tech appendage grabbed her from behind, pulling her back to him.

He laughed triumphantly, holding her in the air while her legs kicked in vain. Shiro roared in anger and rushed Sendak, surprising the Galra with his speed when he suddenly found the Paladin's glowing arm at his neck. "Let her go." Shiro commanded, his voice low and dangerous.

"Or what?" Sendak asked, laughing. "I can't see you actually killing me." The Galra paused to think for half a second. "Let me do my own little experiment. How far until you break?" he asked, smiling maliciously as he began squeezing his prosthetic hand. Sarah cried out in pain, squirming in a desperate attempt to escape.

Without hesitation, Shiro slit the Galra's throat, much to the alien's surprise. He dropped Sarah, who fell to her hands and knees, as he grabbed his throat, trying to clot the deep gash in vain. Shiro deactivated his arm and ran to Sarah's side, ignoring the dying Galra. "Are you okay?" he asked, framing her face with his hands.

"Yea…" she panted. "A little bruised I think, but beyond that…." Supporting her elbows, he helped her to her feet.

"You sure?" he asked, his brows coming together in concern when she winced.

"Yea, just….ow…" she mumbled, holding the spot where he had hurt her while possessed. He nodded, understanding, and she was thankful she didn't have to explain in full detail. Her gaze found the now deceased Galra soldier, her expression impassive. "Can't say I'm going to miss him." she said quietly.

Shiro kissed the top of her head, gently wrapping an arm around her waist as they returned to Darling.

After they left the planet's atmosphere, Sarah sat in Shiro's lap, straddling him. "Uh-? Aren't you hurt?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not too too much." she said, a slight blush tinging her cheeks. "Besides, Sendak interrupted us. I wasn't done…."

Shiro wasted no time in pulling her hips closer, kissing her hungrily. "Neither was I." he murmured, his eyes twinkling.


	79. Chapter 77

After the finished their fun, Sarah shifted to sit sideways on Shiro's lap, laying her head on his shoulder as she pulled her phone out of god knows where. "Uh oh. Seven missed calls from Pidgey."

"I hope everything's okay…" Shiro murmured, his brows furrowing in concern.

"Let's find out." Sarah replied as she swiped up on her phone; Darling's HUD pulled up the video call interface. A second later, Pidge's frantically worried face appeared.

"Are you guys okay?" they asked, so close only their eyes were visible.

"Um…yea…?" Shiro said, confused, as he and Sarah shared a bewildered look.

"The device I made that controlled the tracker in Shiro's arm, it went haywire." they said, talking fast. "I've been trying to fix it and get in contact with you to warn you but neither of you picked up your phones…."

"Pidge?" Allura's voice came from behind. "Oh good, you did get a hold of them." Pidge back away as the Princess entered the frame. "Are you both okay?"

"Yea." Sarah said thoughtfully. "That does explain-"

"Explain what, explain what?" Pidge asked, frantic again, as they tried to take up the entire frame again.

"We had a run in with Sendak." she replied simply.

"What happened?"

"We took care of it."

"But what-"

"Pidge." Sarah said pointedly. "We took care of it." The Paladin grew quiet, knowing she was serious; Sarah rarely used their actual names once she assigned a nickname.

"Ready to come back?" Allura asked over Pidge's shoulder.

"Yea, throw up the wormhole whenever you're ready." Shiro said with a nod.

"Mani! Pani!" V'selle and Chi chanted when Sarah and Shiro disembarked. Shiro scooped Chi up, swinging her around before bring her in for a hug. Sarah knelt down and embraced V'selle, before standing up with the child in her arms, resting her on her hip.

"Welcome back! Did you have fun?" Allura asked as she approached.

"Yea, it was really pretty!" Sarah said enthusiastically. "Fingers crossed it stays that way."

Allura nodded grimly in agreement and opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Lance.

"Hey, yo, Sarah, guess what!" he called, waving.

"What's up?" she asked, walking over to meet him as she booped V'selle's nose playfully.

"Okay, you know that thing you taught Shiro to do? To see the colours and whatever?"

"Yea…?"

"Kayla taught me how to do it and I focused and I did it and I'm blue!"

Sarah would be jumping up and down, clapping excitedly, if she didn't have her adopted daughter in arms; still, her face got the gist of her excitement across. "Dude that's so awesome! I had a feeling you'd be blue. I wonder if the other Paladins match their Lions?"

"What colour is Shiro? Black?" the Blue Paladin asked the Black Paladin joined them.

"No, he's purple, like a vivid purple. Only those who practise Black Magic are black." she answered as V'selle reached for Shiro. He moved Chi to one arm and scooped V'selle into his other as Sarah passed the girl off.

"Are you white then?"

"No," Sarah laughed as the group began to exit the hangar. "I'm a lavender. Oh!" she said, overexcited again. "Did you see Kayla's colour? What colour is she?"

"She's a uh….a kinda bluish purplish….?"

"Periwinkle?"

"Yea! Hey, isn't there a fairy you guys love named Periwinkle?"

"Yea! Secret of the Wings! She's Tinker Bell's twin sister."

Shiro shared an amused look with Allura as the other two jumped from one topic to another at the speed of light. It was hard to keep up, but entertaining to watch.


	80. Chapter 78

Sarah watched as Shiro trained against the gladiator bot; she was practising gesture drawing, quickly sketching a silhouette of her husband in various stances. Tei sat in her lap, watching her adoptive parents in awe.

"Mani, so pretty!" she cooed.

"Thank you, Tei." Sarah chuckled, kissing the girl's head.

"Do I get to see these when you're done?" Shiro asked, taking a breather.

"I mean if you want, it's just practise to get form and body movement down. Figure out the um…" She made a curve in the air with her hand, going back and forth as she tried to find the word. "Line of action!" she said after a brief pause, snapping her fingers.

"Still, even for practise sketches, I'm sure they're beautiful. Aren't they, Tei?" he asked, smiling at the girl, who giggled and nodded furiously. Shiro laughed before engaging the gladiator again.

Sarah looked down at her pad; all she saw were misshapen humanoids in poorly sketched positions, but she supposed that was because she had drawn them, gone through the process of putting pencil to paper.

"Mani, Mani," Tei said, pointing.

"End training sequence!" she shouted, watching the bot drop as soon as she gave the command. She gently shifted Tei off her lap and ran over to Shiro, who had fallen to his hands and knees; he was having one of his terrifying flashbacks. "Shiro? Can you hear me? I'm here babe, I'm here, you're safe." she said as she knelt down next to him. She didn't want to touch him in case that triggered him further.

"Mani….?" Tei asked softly from behind. Sarah turned and saw the girl's eyes wide with fear and concern. "Is Pani ok….?"

"He will be, baby girl. The Galra did really bad things….sometimes his mind replays them…." Sarah had her face very close to the floor, watching his eyes.

"Why?"

"We're not sure. Sometimes when you go through really bad things, your mind…reacts strangely." She smiled gently when his eyes came to focus on hers. "Hey…" she said softly, rubbing his back as they both sat up.

They were both a little surprised when Tei ran up to him, hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry bad things happened." she whimpered.

He sighed, smiling down at her as he scooped her into his arms. "It's okay, it'll all be okay." he murmured, hugging her tightly.

"I'd still like to see them." Shiro said a bit later in their room. "You could draw a circle and I'd compare it to the Mona Lisa."

Sarah blushed furiously. "I'm certainly no Da Vinci." she said, unable to hide her smile. She shyly passed her sketch book to him and had to turn away in embarrassment when he eagerly flipped through it. She's so cute. he thought lovingly. "I'd probably be further along if I hadn't spent so much of my adolescence drawing eyes."

"Eyes?" he asked curiously, still going through her sketchbook.

"Yea…I like drawing eyes, they're pretty. But I should've tried drawing stuff I didn't already know how to draw."

"Do you have any sketchbooks from then?"

"Maybe…I'll run and check Darling. I think I know where a few are." she said brightly, sprinting off. He kept flipping through her sketches, loving every one.

He could see the progress she had made and was constantly surprised and impressed by each page, only to be blown away by the next one. He didn't understand why she thought she was bad at drawing; as far as he could tell, she was a master. Might be an artist thing….he mused. He had known a few artists in school, and they all seemed to have low opinions of their work.

It wasn't until he reached her sketches from earlier that day that he realised she had been gone longer than he had expected. Frowning slightly, he gently set her sketchbook aside and made his way to Darling.

"Sarah?" he asked, walking into the ship. He found her pacing and wringing her hands; her face was blank but tense and he could almost feel the anxiety radiating off her. "Sarah, what's wrong?" he asked, carefully grabbing her shoulders so she stopped and was facing him.

"I can't find them." she answered dully. "I don't know where else they could be. I can't find them."

"That's okay. It's not dire that I see them." he said assuredly, but she shook her head.

"I just…I need to find them. Maybe…maybe…in the room…." she murmured, slipping out of his grip and past him.

His brows knotted together in concern as he followed her. When they reached their room, she started looking everywhere; checked under the sheets, almost pulled up the mattress, the drawers. "Do you remember what the covers looked like?" he asked, as he began looking around as well.

"One….was Lisa Frank. And the other had polka dots." she said as she began pacing again. After the fourth lap she stopped and crouched on the ground, framing her face with her hands as she stared straight ahead at nothing.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked softly, kneeling next to her. He hadn't ever seen her so anxious over what he thought was inconsequential. He knew she had an anxiety disorder, but she had repeatedly assured him that her and her parents had found a way to get it under control.

"Um…." she mumbled. "I just….it bothers me. When i can't find something and I know I had it. Kinda makes me question the reality of my memories. I need to find them." Her last sentence sounded like a plea for help and he nodded.

"Okay. Whatever you need. You want to get Kayla and Krisox?" he asked as he stood up, offering her his hand.

"Yea…yea they might've…seen them or something." she said, pulling herself up with his aid.

When they recruited her siblings, they seemed to immediately understand the situation; no doubt they had seen Sarah like this before. Krisox went to check his ship while Kayla offered to ask the others. In the meanwhile, Sarah and Shiro searched the library she and Allura had spent hours upon hours in.

They must've spent an hour in there, Sarah looking under every book and paper, Shiro checking the topmost shelves. He had just moved the ladder and climbed up when Sarah laughed in triumph.

"Ha, I found the-ow." Looking down, he saw her crawling out from the long table, rubbing her head.

"You okay?" he called down, descending.

"Yea. I do that a lot." He chuckled, nodding in agreement; she had a tendency to bump her head when in tight spaces. "But I found them!"

He joined her on the floor as she leaned against the shelves, visibly relaxing. After sending a quick text to the others, she passed him the polka dot sketchbook and began flipping through the Lisa Frank one herself. He smiled as he watched her; her relief was evident. Now that they were found, she seemed completely at ease. Looking down to the book in his hands, he opened it and began browsing. "These are fantastic! When did you draw these?"

"I don't know…adolescence I think?" she answered, blushing.

Looking up at her, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "You okay?"

"Yea." she said, taking a deep breath. "Sorry. I…..don't like losing things. It really freaks me out."

"No need to apologise." he murmured, pulling her hand to him so he could kiss it. "Think it's an OCD remnant?" he asked, recalling her phrase for various small things she attributed to her disorder.

"Probably. Considering I can't stop thinking about whatever I lost. Obsessive thoughts are a bitch." she said with a laugh.

"I believe it." he said, squeezing her hand again before returning to the sketchbook. "You never told me you designed outfits!" he said, holding up her picture of a gorgeous dress. "Sarah, that's amazing. You could be a fashion designer."

"Oh, shush. I don't even know how to sew." she said, giggling.


	81. Chapter 79

"That is so cute!" Sarah squealed excitedly, rocking herself off the couch and onto her feet.

"Uh-where are you going?" Lance asked, suddenly apprehensive.

"I'm gonna go tell Shiro, of course. I'm sure he'd love to hear that you looked up to him as a hero!" she said brightly, flouncing around the couch to the door.

"Hey-no-Sarah, you can't do that!" Lance whined, scrambling off the couch. Kayla, who had been watching the television, stood up and sat on Lance before he could escape. She flashed a thumbs up to Sarah before turning her attention back to the television. "This isn't fair, you're both conspiring against me!" he whimpered dramatically.

"Oh nonsense." Sarah said. Just before she could reach the door, it opened and Shiro walked in, coming to a halt two steps into the lounge.

"Uh…why is Kayla sitting on Lance…?" he asked uncertainly, as if he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Guess what!" Sarah started, clapping excitedly. "You were Lance's hero in the Garrison!"

A strained whining noise came from the couch. Sarah looked over and saw Lance trying to bury himself in the couch. Turning back to her husband, she noticed a slight tinge of red in his face. "Aww, babe, you're blushing!" she cooed, framing his face with her hands as she rose on her tiptoes to kiss him. His blush became more noticeable and he tried to hide it but was failing miserably.

"Right, well," he began, clearing his throat and trying to regain composure. "I'm….flattered, very flattered."

"I'm gonna go die now." Lance said, his voice heavily muffled from him being face down in the couch.

"Shiro, you are the absolute cutest when you're blushy and awks!" Sarah laughed, tapping his nose before she made to return to the couch.

"Oh, no you don't." he said cheekily, wrapping his arms around her from behind and tickling her midsection. She squeaked, doubling over and causing them to fall to the floor, where they became a mess of laughter.

"Hey, as cute as that is, I'm trying to watch TV." Kayla said, sliding off Lance so he could make a run for it if he wanted. He just groaned into the couch cushions.

"Sorry, Kayla." Sarah said dramatically sarcastic. The sisters stuck their tongues out at each other. She made to sit up but Shiro gently stopped her. "You wanna just lay on the floor?" she asked, half jokingly.

"Sure." he said, shrugging.

"Well alright then." she giggled, laying back down, cuddling up next to him.

When Krisox walked in a second later, he seemed confused for a second before shrugging and stepping over the couple like they weren't there. He swiped up on his phone, causing the video he was watching to take over the television screen.

"Hey!" Kayla protested angrily.

"It's a rerun, you've seen it like ten times." Krisox said offhandedly. "Sarah, how do you think that old hag did this?"

Sarah looked over at her brother, frowning in confusion, and pushed herself up to a sitting position so she could see the screen. Krisox was playing the clip where Zarkon's ship was extracting a planet's quintessence. She hated watching it, as the video reminded her that someone in her community was likely killed immediately after recording and sending it out. But she also knew it was important that they find out how Zarkon and Hagger could achieve such a feat. Sighing, she rose to her feet and went to stand next to Krisox. He replayed the clip, slowing it down so they could try to get a better look at the details. "Honestly? I don't even know. White didn't have a clue either."

"Hagger can't do something on that scale without help." Shiro said, suddenly behind her. "Um…right?" he asked uncertainly, his worried eyes turning to Sarah.

"No." she said, shaking her head slightly. "There's no way she could do that herself. She must have had help from other druids, but still…."

Krisox restarted the clip again, slowing it down even more. He sighed dejectedly. "We aren't gonna get much farther with just this, we need a closer look."

"Krisox…" Sarah said slowly, raising an eyebrow at her brother. She didn't like the thoughtful look on his face.

"Do you want to physically go to Zarkon's command ship and snoop around?" Shiro asked incredulously.

"Yea." the Dularian said, shrugging. "I can get in and out real fast, my ship has some of the best cloaking technology to date."

"So you not only want to go into enemy territory, you want to go alone."

"Krisox, I'm not letting you go there alone." Sarah said firmly.

"I'm sorry, when did I need your permission?" Krisox asked sharply, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at his little sister.

"I'm not saying you do, I'm saying it's dangerous and you haven't been around Galra shit as much. If this were some gang lord's lair I'd be a bit more whatever because that's your area of expertise."

"And Zarkon's command ship is yours." His eyes narrowed but she didn't waver.

"Not exactly. I'm just more familiar with Galra shit." She crossed her arms over her chest, meeting and holding his gaze.

"Look, us three will go together. We'll be in and out before anyone notices." Shiro said, moving to stand between them and diffuse the tension.

"Uh, you guys sure? Pretty sure Shiro's arm will set off alarms if he uses it, since, you know…" Lance said, removing his face from the couch cushions and sitting up.

"That is a good point…." Shiro murmured, looking at his prosthetic absentmindedly.

"You could ask Keith maybe? Pretty sure he's not registered or in Galra databanks or…." Lance waved his hands, trying to find the right word. "…whatever." he shrugged, giving up.

"It'd be a tight squeeze, my ship isn't that big." Krisox said as he removed the clip from the television, returning it to the program Kayla had been watching.

"I'm still going." Shiro said firmly, wrapping an arm around Sarah's waist. "We'll just have to make it work."

"Whatever, let's get planning." her brother said, rolling his eyes as the couple shared a kiss.


	82. Chapter 80

"Okay, well, so far so good." Krisox whispered, peering around the corner. They had managed to dock his vessel next to an airdock and board Zarkon's command ship without setting off any alarms. Now they were moving cautiously, trying to avoid any kind of detection. The goal was to be in and out without any kind of trace, and that included downed sentries. They didn't have a map or any real idea of where to go; the mission was strictly reconnaissance and they wanted to gather as much information as they could. Upon finding an empty storage room, the four slid inside, carefully closing the door behind them. "Okay, Sarah, do your thing." Krisox said.

"No promises, this place is huge." she murmured, closing her eyes to explore the ship through quintessence. Just as she had expected, most of her view was an indecipherable mess. There was too much interference. She could, however, tell that there were some areas that had a large concentration of quintessence. "Okay, I couldn't get much," she began, opening her eyes. "but there are some places that have a higher concentration of quintessence than the rest of the ship. We should probably check those."

"Could you tell where they were located?" Keith whispered, crouched by the door to keep a lookout.

"Not exact, just….directions sort of." She closed her eyes again to try and get a better idea of the locations. There were two very large concentrations, one near the center of the ship and one a bit farther up. "Okay, there's one at the center….and one farther up…" She sighed and opened her eyes; that was the best she could do.

"I think the center one might be where he was trying to capture the Black Lion. I think I could find a way there." Keith offered.

"You mean split up?" Shiro asked in a hushed, alarmed tone. "Is that really the best idea?"

"Maybe." Krisox said thoughtfully. "I think I'd be able to tell if I was at one of the big concentrations or not. I'll go with Keith."

Shiro frowned; Sarah could tell he did not like the newly formed plan. She hugged him as the other two slipped out. "It'll be okay." she said soothingly.

He smiled appreciatively, kissing the top of her head. "Let's get going then, shall we?"

Through caution, patience, and quick thinking, Sarah and Shiro managed to reach the upper portion of Zarkon's command ship unnoticed. Sarah could feel in the air that they were getting close; the atmosphere was heavier and almost seemed to be charged with subtle static electricity.

They were sneaking along carefully when they heard a squad of sentries marching their way. They quickly dived through the nearest door, sliding it closed quietly behind them. The room was dark, but as her eyes adjusted, Sarah noticed there was a strange, faint purple glow. The air was especially energised and as she ventured farther into the room she came to the conclusion that it was the place they were looking for.

"What is all this?" Shiro asked quietly, gesturing to the the strange capsules on the long shelves. They were the source of the dim light; though each one glowed brightly, their purple light didn't seem to reach very far, as if there was a heavy darkness in the room subduing the light.

"I think it's quintessence…." she murmured, steadily moving forward; there was a brighter purple glow at the end of the row, and she was curious to see what it was.

As she got close, she saw the middle of the room was a sunken, hexagon-shaped area situated beneath a strange claw-like mechanism hanging from the ceiling. She thought it strange that the floor was also glowing. She descended the few steps and knelt down, her eyes tracing the strange, glowing, circular pattern that seemed to be carved in the floor.

"Is this the place we were looking for?" Shiro asked, joining her in the hexagon.

"Definitely." she said with a nod. "No idea what this is though…" She reached down to trace the glowing lines with her hand, but when she touched it, it shocked her hand and violent visions flashed through her mind. She gasped and fell backwards onto the steps, her heart hammering.

"What happened?" Shiro asked, crouching next to her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, her eyes wide and unfocused as she tried to make sense of what she just experienced. "This….this is Hagger's….." she murmured, trying to sort through the terrifying visions. Most of them seemed like blurs of purple light, but there were a few she could see clearly. "A lot of Black Magic happens here….and…" she paused, frowning; she didn't know what to make of the other image she could decipher. "I think she….like…zaps Zarkon….with pure quintessence….?" She looked to Shiro, her confused eyes focusing on his.

"What would that do to a person?" he asked, but all she could do for an answer was shake her head; she had no idea. Shiro looked to the circle and then around them. "We should go, if this is Hagger's we shouldn't linger too long." he said, standing up and offering her his hand. She took it and pulled herself up, eager to leave the room; it made sense now why the atmosphere felt so heavy; it was thick with Hagger's evil. And she wanted to get as far away from the almost suffocating room as possible.

They were making their way back to the lower levels when a thought occurred to her. "Hey, think we could try to find the throne room? I have an idea."

"Seriously? Zarkon's throne room?" Shiro asked in disbelief.

"Yea. If he's in there then we leave. If it's empty…..okay this will sound silly, but it's part of one of my plans. Or, it'd contribute, at least."

"What do you want to do?" he asked, amused, as they changed direction.

"I wanna take a selfie!"


	83. Chapter 81

"You want to take a selfie." Shiro stated incredulously. "What purpose could that possibly serve?"

"It's part of my social media propaganda campaign." Sarah said simply, slowing to a halt as they approached an intersection.

After they made sure the coast was clear, they continued on. "I'm sorry? Your what propaganda campaign?" he asked, bemused.

"Oh did I not-? Did I not tell anyone about that?" She frowned, confused; she could have sworn she'd talked about with someone.

"Not to my knowledge, no." he whispered, ducking behind a corner as sentries passed by.

"Oh." Her eyes became distant, as they did when her memory failed her; it was quite disorienting. "Well, since social media is so ubiquitous, it's one of the few things the Galra can't control, I figured it'd be a good weapon."

"How?"

"I make posts that hurt Zarkon's reputation and make him look weak go viral. The way I see it, most of those under Galra rule haven't ever seen him in person, so he may was well be a god. So we need to ruin that image."

"Makes sense…I just don't see how you actually go about doing that?" He slowed down, holding out his arm to stop her as they came upon another intersection; they knelt down, hiding, as a squad of sentries marched pass.

"Well, I mean, imagine how it'll look if two of his biggest adversaries take a selfie in his throne." she said quietly, stifling a giggle.

"You've got a point there." he murmured, peering up and down the corridor before motioning for her to follow. "But what does tearing down his reputation help fight against the Galra armies? I guess I don't see the connection between fighting the empire and shit-talking and vague-posting online."

"Well….I'm running on theories that I have no idea how to prove….but I think…Zarkon and Galra empire is just so overwhelming as a whole. People are discouraged from doing anything. So, I'm making a molehill out of a mountain in the hopes that….." she shrugged, not sure how to end her sentence.

"I can understand that logic." he whispered. "That's some pretty intense psychology you're working with." He smiled at her proudly, making her blush. "I think we might be close, wanna scout it out?"

She nodded, closing her eyes. Once again, she had some difficulty navigating, but managed to find a large space that had a very light concentration of quintessence no too far from them. "I think you might be right." she said, smiling up at him. "But how do we get in is the question."

"Think you could just…teleport us in?"

"In theory, yes, but I need to get closer so i can get better feel….and don't get us stuck in a wall."

"Yea, that'd really put a damper on my day." he joked, moving forward.

"Success!" she whispered triumphantly as they appeared in front of Zarkon's throne. "Damn. I didn't figure him for the ostentatious type." she commented, looking at the grandiose seat.

"C'mon, let's make this quick." Shiro murmured apprehensively. Sarah nodded and pulled out her phone. "Where in god's name do you even keep that?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have various secret pockets. Okay, I'm gonna do that duck face thing, you should umm…..you should dab!" she said softly, but excitedly.

"Whatever you say." he chuckled despite his apprehension.

"Okay, on three." she said, holding her phone out and framing them right. "One…two…three!" The camera snapped and she quickly returned her phone to its hiding place.

"Okay, let's go." Shiro said anxiously. He seemed especially tense until they reached an empty server room, though his anxiety was perfectly valid. "Don't post that until we leave, okay?" he said, sighing as he leaned against the wall.

She walked over and hugged him, resting her head on his chest. "Of course." she said softly. "You didn't have to say yes, you know?"

"I know….but I have faith in your plans, they're insanely well thought out." he said with a chuckle, wrapping his arms around her small form.

She blushed again, hiding her face against his armour. Very suddenly she perked up and looked at the door. Half a second later, Krisox and Keith ran in, panting. "You guys okay?" she asked, walking over to her brother who was lying on the floor trying to catch his breath.

"Yea we just…had to outrun some sentries…." he said between pants.

"Oh, damn. So much for not being seen." she said indifferently, leaning back to sit cross-legged on the floor. "Did you guys find what you were looking for?"

"Yeah." Keith said, leaning against one of the server stacks. "It was what I thought, it's this big room with a large circle, and it's right in the center of the ship."

"Hey, you ever notice how this place is like a squid?" Sarah asked, seemingly randomly; it wasn't to her, as she had made the connection while trying to imagine where they had gone. "And that…whatever it is, circle room, is like the squid's mouth."

"That's….a really good comparison." Shiro noted, smiling. She beamed.

"Couldn't really get much intel though." Keith said dejectedly.

"Yea…but I had an idea…" Krisox started slowly. "and you aren't gonna like it."

Sarah tensed slightly, sharing a concerned look with Shiro. "What is it….?" she asked slowly.

"You think you could extract memories like White did?"

"Maybe, if she walks me through it." she answered, her brows furrowing. "Krisox, what're you-"

"I wanna see if we can capture Hagger." he said, sitting up. "Get the information we need right from the source."


	84. Chapter 82

"Excuse me?" Keith asked sharply. "You want to capture who now?"

Sarah watched her brother carefully, unsure what to make of his idea. On one hand, he had a point; getting information from the source would likely prove fruitful. But on the other hand, he was talking about the Dark Witch, leader of the Druids and Zarkon's right hand.

"Yes, I know, Hagger, she's quite a big fish." Krisox went on calmly.

"A big fish? Do you know what she's capable of, what she's done?" Keith asked angrily, fists clenching.

"I know what she's done." her brother answered quietly, his muted eyes meeting her gaze. "But we don't know what exactly she's capable of."

Sarah brought her knees to her chest, hugging them as she rested her chin on her kneecaps. She didn't know what to do. She agreed with her brother that they really were more or less in the dark on what Hagger was capable of. But would it be worth the risk?

"Shiro? You wanna try talking some sense into him?" Keith said exasperatedly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sarah looked over to her husband; his expression was pensive. "Babe…?" she prompted softly. His eyes focused on hers, still thinking, but she got the sense he was close to a decision.

"I think….he has a point." Shiro began slowly, much to Keith's chagrin. "But…Krisox, you're depending on a lot of 'maybes' for this to work."

"I….I know." Krisox sighed. "I know I'm not able to do it. I'd be asking an awful lot of you, Sarah…."

She bit her lip, thinking. "I….probably could knock her out and tap into her memories. But I can't tap in and protect my mind from hers…."

"What would you need?"

"Well….you and Kayla would have to like….be my mental shield…if that makes any sense….?" She shrugged.

"Yea, makes sense to me." Krisox said with a nod.

"Shiro, are we really gonna go through with this?" Keith asked indignantly.

"I'm not too keen on the idea myself, Keith, but…we need the information. We don't know how they're sucking the life out of planets. What more could they be capable of?"

Keith opened his mouth to say something before angrily shutting it.

"Do you have a plan to capture her, Krisox?" Shiro asked, ignoring the Red Paladin's sulking.

"Actually….yeah, I do."

"Sarah, will you stop?" Krisox hissed irritably. The two were hiding above a hanger in the rafters, watching Shiro walk slowly through the middle of it. The plan was to lure Hagger using Shiro as bait and Sarah and Keith hadn't liked the sound of that plan at all. But despite the Red Paladin's angry objections and Sarah insisting that she be the bait instead, Shiro consented.

When Hagger inevitably made her appearance, Sarah was to teleport down and zap the witch into unconsciousness. But sitting up in the rafters, watching and waiting made her antsy and nervous; she couldn't help her anxious squirming. Her brother had already asked her to calm her jitters three times. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she whispered meekly. She saw Keith hiding on the top of one of the Galra fighter crafts, and she knew he was just as uneasy as she was. Shiro was essentially his older brother and the only stable familial relationship he had ever had.

"Is my Champion all alone?"

Sarah tensed, gripping her brother's hand tightly as Hagger appeared ahead of Shiro. "You ready?" Krisox whispered, watching her carefully. She set her jaw and nodded.

Taking a deep breath, teleported herself behind the Dark Witch. "He's not alone." she said severely. Before the witch could turn, Sarah had zapped her neck, knocking her unconscious. Hagger crumpled to the floor as Keith and Krisox left their hiding spots.

"Okay, let's get going." her brother grunted, hoisting the witch over his shoulder. Sarah nodded and grabbed Shiro's hand as the three followed Krisox. They were likely pushing their luck and wouldn't go unnoticed for much longer. She could feel that Shiro was just as tense as she was, and just tried to focus on getting out alive.

Sarah clung to Shiro tightly as Krisox navigated the space around Zarkon's central command. Sure enough, they had been spotted and alarms began sounding as they were making their escape. They managed to get back to her brother's ship unharmed, but now Galra fighters were swarming around them, firing at the small vessel.

"I thought this thing went invisible!" Keith yelled, slightly frantic.

"It does, it does, it just…it takes a second!" Krisox said defensively, rapidly hitting and clicking buttons. "There, okay, we're invisible again."

Sarah wanted to relax, as the Galra fighters had clearly lost them and they were home free, but Hagger's limp form wasn't more than two feet from her and Shiro. He hadn't taken his eyes off the witch since they set off, holding Sarah tightly. She doubted either of them would be able to relax while the witch was close.


	85. Chapter 83

The entire team hovered around the tube that held Hagger's unconscious form. Everyone seemed on edge, but none were as tense as Sarah and Shiro were. As Pidge, Coran, and Allura set everything up to extract the witch's memories, Keith and Lance whispered conspiratorially to the side. Sarah suspected Keith was venting to Lance about Krisox and his dangerous plan and she didn't blame him. It wouldn't take Zarkon long to realise where his right hand was. It was agreed that, at the first sign of any trouble, they were to eject Hagger, in the hopes that whatever showed up would stop to pick up the witch, allowing the team to escape through a wormhole. It was quite a big risk they were taking, and there was no guaranteed payoff.

"Okay, everything's set up." Allura said, turning away from the tube. "Are you…are you sure you're ready?" she asked Sarah tentatively.

The small human nodded, her eyes wide and impassive as she stared at her adversary. She sat down cross-legged against a tube on the opposite side of the hall, getting herself comfortable; she expected to be there for several hours at least. She had already connected with White to explain the plan and receive guidance. Kayla and Krisox sat on either side of her and she took their hands in hers, closing her eyes and humming slightly to synchronise their quintessence wavelengths.

"Let's go…" she heard Allura whisper, ushering the others away so they wouldn't disturb the white magic. "Um, Shiro?"

"I'm gonna stay here, keep an eye on things." her husband said from her right. Peeking, she saw him leaning against the wall near her, watching Hagger like a hawk.

"Um…okay. Okay. Just….let us know if you need anything or…if anything happens…." the Princess trailed off uncertainly, and after a few seconds of silence Sarah heard her footsteps drift away.

"You guys ready?" Sarah asked, opening her eyes to visually confirm with her siblings. They both nodded, and closed their eyes. Their job was simple enough: they were to mentally link with her and provide a barrier between her mind and Hagger's in case Hagger somehow gained consciousness and fought back. Sarah didn't want to think what Hagger would do in that situation.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. White's mind reached hers, guiding her. Sarah gingerly extended her reach to the Dark Witch; she winced slightly when she connected. The witch's mind was dark and confusing, a swirling haze of evil. She steadied herself so she didn't get overwhelmed, and followed her Lion's instructions very carefully. White had warned her that a person's mind was a confusing storm of thoughts and memories, and if she didn't focus she could easily let some of her thoughts slip. Sarah was determined not to let that happen.

She didn't know how much time had passed, she just knew it felt like an eternity. Sarah was desperate for some kind of status update; she had been carefully pulling at Hagger's thoughts as though they were strings tangled together, but she couldn't tell if they were being collected by the Altean technology.

"You're doing great, Sarah." Shiro said softly. "We've collected some memories already, White says you're doing really well."

She smiled inwardly; she was glad White connected with Shiro as well as her. She wasn't sure if her Lion would let him in the pilot seat, but she didn't see that becoming necessary.

A short while later, she felt herself hit a snag. Sarah had reached a particularly tangled, messy clump of memories, and was having a hard time pulling them apart. White cautioned her, advising her to move around it, return to it later. Mentally, she nodded and tried to ease around it, but it proved difficult. The mass felt like it was grabbing onto her almost, as if it was a spider's web; it didn't help that curiosity was eating away at her. But White kept her focused and on tracked and she managed to move on to more manageable threads.

She didn't realise she had lost track of time again; Sarah had become absorbed in her work and White was focused solely on her. Neither picked up on her sister's fatigue.

Sarah got the sense that something was changing when it felt like Hagger's memories and thoughts were latching on to her instead of just passively floating and letting her tease them apart. White picked up on the change immediately, and she felt her mentor seek out the others around her, to determine their status. When White's presence left her mind, Hagger's threads became violent. She found her mind on the defensive, and began to retreat, but a few of the Dark Witch's thoughts had managed to latch on and were pulled to Sarah's mind as she withdrew her efforts.

Suddenly her head was pounding and a swirling darkness tried to invade. She didn't realise she had cried out in pain; Shiro was kneeling in front of her, talking to her, but everything was muted and hazy. "She's…in my head…." she tried to say, but she wasn't sure if she got the words out. She felt strong, firm hands grab her shoulders and felt herself become somewhat grounded.

Sarah opened her eyes, realising they had been closed this whole time, and looked into her husband's worried eyes. She still couldn't make out what he was saying, but her sister's scream made her understand she had her hands clamped tightly over her ears.

"Shit, eject her, eject her!" she heard Krisox yell as she removed her trembling hands from her ears. Looking over Shiro's shoulder, she saw the Dark Witch awake and grinning maliciously. Her brother ran in front of the tube, slamming the ejection panel. An alarm blared, its red light flashing off and on, which drowned out whatever Krisox was shouting and Shiro's words of comfort.

Overcome by fear and confusion, Sarah broke down, wrapping her arms around Shiro and sobbing into his shoulder. She didn't know what had happened or how it had happened, but somehow Hagger had reached her mind. She shuddered to think what the Dark Witch managed to find.

"I trust you didn't suffer too severely?" Zarkon asked over the broadcast.

"No…" Hagger began, grinning ear to ear. "I don't think they found much of anything of use."

"But I take it you did?"

"Oh yes….yes, I found something that will bring them to their knees."

"A weakness?"

"I should think so." the witch could barely contain her malicious glee. "They have children."

"My, my….that is useful information. Are you in pursuit?"

"Of course. They won't get very far. I think they would be willing to hand over Voltron itself for their brats. I shall see to it myself."


	86. Chapter 84

"How's Sarah doin?" Lance asked a few days later. They had landed the castle on a green, forested planet to refuel and restock, but Shiro had decided to take the children out to play. The past weeks had been tense and he felt some recreational time was warranted. Sarah had remained with White, recuperating, so Lance and Pidge had joined Shiro and the kids. They had found a small clearing within sight of the castle and settled in, watching the five children run amok in glee. Pidge had brought Rover 2.0 and flew the droid around with a remote control, chasing the boys.

"Better….She'll be okay, she's resilient." Shiro said, smiling as Chi gave him a flower bracelet. She had been hard at work making flower jewelry with V'selle, who had gone just beyond the bushes to retrieve more material. "Can you see V'selle?" he asked as Chi slipped the bracelet on his Galra arm, clapping giddily.

Lance strained his neck, looking over the bushes while also trying to avoid disrupting his and Tei's hand game. "Yea, I see her." he said after a few seconds. "Whoa, hey careful now!" he said as Aury and N'ec almost toppled over Tei. The two had been playing Voltron, a popular game with the children where one would pretend to be Voltron and the other would pretend to be a Robeast; in this case, both boys were Voltron and Rover 2.0 was the Robeast. They apologised profusely, picking themselves up hastily. Tei jumped to her feet, startling them slightly.

"You have made a grave mistake, for I am Zarkon! Muahaha!" she said dramatically. She then began to chase the boys around and the clearing became filled with their laughter. Pidge laughed, maneuvering Rover 2.0 to fly in tandem with Tei.

Chi crawled over to Lance, holding out a flower bracelet for Lance. "Bluh, Bluh." she said, smiling; she hadn't quite figured out how to pronounce his name properly. His face lit up as he held out his hand, and she carefully slid it onto his wrist.

A bloodcurdling scream erupted from the forest; Shiro quickly rose to his feet to investigate, but by that time V'selle had returned, running into his arms and crying. "Pani, meanies, the purple meanies, they here!" she sobbed.

"Shit." he muttered. "Lance, Pidge get the kids back to the castle, I'll stall them."

"I'm not leaving you alone!" Lance said indignantly.

"Would you just-"

"I got it covered." Pidge said, corralling the children while simultaneously contacting Allura.

Turning back to the forest, he could see the sunlight glint of the Galra bots. He activated his arm as Lance pulled out his bayard. He took one last glance behind him to make sure the kids and Pidge were a safe distance; when he saw that they were he nodded to Lance and dove into the forest.

Her peaceful, relaxed world was shattered when Tei and the others came running in, each child babbling all at once. Sarah looked to Pidge, who followed them in, for some kind of explanation. But before the Green Paladin could open their mouth, a strange sensation overcame her; she felt a sudden, heavy weight pressing against her chest as visions rapidly flashed through her mind.

"There were Galra-Shiro, Lance-" Pidge panted, trying to catch their breath.

Recovering, Sarah rose shakily to her feet. "Not just any Galra." she murmured, her voice low and full of fear. "Druids."


	87. Chapter 85

Shiro groaned groggily, slowly opening his eyes. It took him a second to remember what had happened, and where he now was. Looking around he found Lance, still unconscious, against the opposite wall. He hadn't anticipated the druids ambushing them; he suspected Hagger had set it up somehow. He wouldn't put it past her to be able to track them even after they passed through a wormhole.

Standing up, he stretched before approaching the door and peering out at the hall. It had the same symbols on the walls that he and Sarah had seen on the mission where they fell into Hagger's trap. "Must be runes or something…." he murmured to himself. He ducked when two druids walked past, straining to hear their conversation.

"…after everything? Is he of no more use?" one asked.

"I do not know. That is her command. I know she wants the White Witch to suffer….but her orders seem….wasteful…."

Their voices grew faint as they moved farther down the hall. He slid down the wall to the floor, trying to make sense of their conversation. Before he could give it much thought, Lance stirred, pushing himself up to his hands and knees.

"Well that sucked." he grumbled, leaning back to sit against his wall.

"You okay?" Shiro asked, crawling to sit across from him.

"Yea. I mean, I'd be better if we weren't in a Galra prison cell. But given that can't be helped, yea. You?"

"Same, basically." Shiro chuckled. "Trying to figure out a conversation two druids were having, they just walked past…."

"Yea? What did they say?" Lance asked, tilting his head.

"Something about 'is he of no more use' and Hagger wanting Sarah to suffer….I know one said 'wasteful'…." he trailed off, lost in thought as the pieces fell into place.

"Shiro?" Lance asked, concerned. "Did you figure it-oh…" Shiro watched the young Paladin's eyes grow wide with fear as everything clicked with him as well. "But…no, they wouldn't….would they….?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised." he said grimly. It would be the perfect way to get back at Sarah, and whatever "use" he had with the druids likely wouldn't save him. He leaned his head against the wall, staring at the dark ceiling.

"But I mean….the others, they'll come for us, they'll come before-before-" Lance couldn't finish the sentence, his voice thick with emotion.

"We can hope…" Shiro whispered. "But…if they don't….they most definitely will be able to save you-"

"Shiro, please don't talk-"

"Lance." Shiro said, gently but firmly; the Blue Paladin fell silent. "Just promise me something, okay? Tell Sarah….and the kids…." he took a deep breath to steady himself. "Tell them I love them more than the universe, okay? Promise me that."

Lance was quiet for a long moment; Shiro looked over to find the young Paladin staring at the floor. "Okay." he said softly. His gaze rose to hold Shiro's. "I promise."

Hours later, the druids came for them. They slapped restraints on both Paladins, securing their hands behind them before they were led out. Shiro tried to insist they leave Lance, but the druids ignored him. He hoped the others would make it in time to save him, though Shiro couldn't see them killing two Paladins. His death had a purpose; Lance's, not so much.

They were led into a wide room that had small, low table in the middle. The druids commanded the sentries to drag him over to it, and he saw the faint glow of a circle on the floor around it, similar to what they had found in Hagger's room aboard Zarkon's central command ship. This is where they…they do it...he thought grimly. He chanced a quick glance behind him; they had taken Lance to the side and forced him onto his knees. Before he could try to wordlessly communicate with the young Paladin, he was forced onto his knees as well, kneeling in front of the table. It struck him as odd that Hagger was nowhere to be seen; he figured she would want to deliver the killing blow herself.

One of the druids forcefully pushed his head down onto the table. "Any last words?" the creature hissed.

"Go to hell." he growled defiantly.

Shiro closed his eyes, bracing himself for what was coming. He tried to focus on Sarah, her laughing, their small wedding…

A scream echoed throughout the facility, filling it with agony, sadness…..and fury. In the blink of an eye all the power went out, plunging the room into darkness and chaos.


	88. Chapter 86

"Sarah, we can't, we still need to refuel, we won't make it." Allura said in the control room, scanning the system for Galra ships.

"We can take the lions, can't we?" Keith asked urgently.

After Pidge had told Sarah what happened, she knew it would be too late to return to the forest; the druids had captured their bounty by then. Sarah had wasted no time in informing Allura, Oliver, and Keith, who had already been in the control room.

"It's just too risky to take the lions when the castle is immobile." she looked to Sarah apologetically. "I'm sorry, I want to rush after and save them, too, but it's just not a smart move right now. You know Shiro would say the same…..please, I'm trying…"

Sarah nodded wordlessly, staring at nothing in particular. "Do you know where they're taking them?" she asked carefully.

"Judging by their trajectory….it looks like they're going to the Galra home planet." Allura answered, pulling it up in the hologram GUI. "I don't why they'd go there and not central command…." the Altean bit her lip anxiously. Oliver wrapped their arms around her midsection and she smiled appreciatively.

Sarah stared at the planet impassively for a moment before she abruptly turned and left. She couldn't wait for the castle to finish being refueled, she needed to go. There was no telling what the druids would do. Likely Hagger was directing them, angry over their kidnapping of her. Sarah didn't like the thought of Shiro being imprisoned and at the mercy of an angry Dark Witch.

"Sarah!"

She turned, raising a curious eyebrow as Keith ran up to her.

"What are you going to do?"

"What's it to you?" she asked, a bit harsher than she had intended.

"You're going to get them right? In White?" He watched her face intensely. "I'm coming with you."

"How can White be invisible visually and on radar?" Keith asked, amazed and confused, as they disembarked. The dark planet hadn't been too far from where they had landed the castle, which Sarah considered a blessing, but at the same time she wondered why they had refueled on a planet that was so close to the Galra home world.

"She can still manipulate quintessence, and with that she can bend light rays and radar signals around her so it looks like she's not there." she answered quietly.

They had no difficulty sneaking in, and she found it strange that there seemed to be very few Galran robots patrolling the halls. Her face paled slightly when they reached a wider hall and found the walls covered in the strange markings she had seen only once before.

"These are just like the markings Shiro and I saw….before we fell into that trap…." She gingerly ran her hand across one. "I don't think is just a run of the mill Galra base, I think this is….some…special place for the druids…." She looked to Keith, her eyes wide and worried.

"C'mon, let's just….let's just not worry about that right now." he said, slightly frantic, as he began running down the hall. She nodded, quickly following. "Can you get a read on them?"

"Probably, but that might also bring a whole swarm of druids on us." she said grimly.

"I don't care, we can handle them." he said fiercely.

"If you say so…." she murmured, remembering how Pidge had described his first encounter with one of Hagger's druids; it hadn't gone well. "I need to close my eyes, don't let me run into anything." He nodded and she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, exploring the facility. The walls were thick with black quintessence, which made sense, but made it difficult to navigate. She fought through it, looking for the familiar purple signature of her husband. She felt Keith gently pull her to a stop, as footsteps approached and then pass them.

The brief pause allowed her to focus better, and she found Shiro's signature. Very close to him was a blue, who she took for Lance, and they were surrounded by darkness. "I found them." she whispered, not opening her eyes.

"Where are they?" Keith asked anxiously.

"They're being moved…." She began running again as Keith grabbed her hand and led her forward. "Okay they've stopped, they're in a room now." She was confused by the situation and watched closely. Though she couldn't see the scene as clearly as if she were there, she could tell that Shiro was forced to his knees in the middle of the room. When she tried to get a closer look, a wave of malice and evil intent washed over her. She slowed to a stop as she became aware of what was about to happen.

Before Keith could ask why she stopped, she screamed. The pain at the thought of losing him, her fear and sadness….her wrath….poured out, echoing throughout. She felt the world quake around her as her emotions violently affected the heavy dark energy around her, manipulating it, making it her own weapon. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a pitch dark hallway.

"S-sarah…?" Keith asked shakily from a short way in front of her. She turned on her helmet lights just as he did and was taken aback by the sight of the frightened boy in front of her. "What….was that….?"

Thinking quickly, Shiro rolled away, trying to avoid the druids who were running around almost chaotically. Trying to recall Sarah's teachings, he closed his eyes and tried to find Lance. He didn't expect there to be so much black quintessence, but after a moment he found the blue that he knew was Lance.

As some emergency floor lights came on one by one, he slipped his cuffed hands under him and then over his legs before running over to Lance. The druids didn't seem to be paying them much attention anymore, which was odd but he set it aside for the time being.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked after he reached the Blue Paladin. Lance nodded, staring around wide-eyed.

"What was that?" he asked, as Shiro forcefully broke his cuffs and then broke the young Paladin's.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it was my wife." he said, smiling slightly.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go say hello." Lance quipped.

Escaping the room and evading the druids was disturbingly easy. Shiro knew something was wrong, that there was something about the present situation that he couldn't see, but he was so desperate to see Sarah he shoved it to the back of his mind. He wasn't sure how to find her in the dark facility, but he figured if they ran to where her scream had originated from, they'd come across her at some point. He didn't expect to almost collide with Keith.

"Whoa-hey, Shiro! Sarah, he's here!" he called over his shoulder before almost throwing himself at Lance.

"Shiro!" Turning, he caught her as she jumped, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his middle, clinging tight.

"It's okay, it's okay now…" he repeated, half to her, half to himself. This was the closest he had come to never seeing her again, and he got the sense that she knew that as well. "Where are the others?"

"We kind of uh…snuck away." Keith said between kissing Lance.

"Allura said it would be too risky with the castle being immobile, it still needed refueling, but I couldn't…I couldn't…" Sarah said, her voice quivering. She looked into his eyes, stroking his cheek, and he could tell she was almost overwhelmed with emotion. They kissed for a long moment, both desperate for each other.

"What is it?" he asked when she broke it off abruptly, suddenly alert.

"She's coming, we need to go." she said seriously, and he nodded letting her down.

The four navigated the halls as best they could in the low light, trying to get back to White as fast as they could. Keith and Sarah had gotten turned around somewhat in the dark, but were confident they were at least heading in the right direction.

They reached a wider hallway and he saw more of the strange runes on the walls. "What do you think these mean?" he asked the group at large as they ran.

"No idea." Sarah answered, panting slightly. "But one thing's for sure, their presence means we're in druid territory."

He nodded and was about to respond, but skidded to a halt when Sarah gasped suddenly. Turning, he saw she had come to a stop very suddenly, and was gingerly inspecting something in front of her, confused. When her fingers found it, the force field shocked her, causing her to withdraw hastily. "What the…" he began, approaching it. Keith and Lance slowed as they realised their companions were no longer running. Shiro tapped the invisible barrier with his Galra hand, watching it ripple with what looked like electricity. His and Sarah's gazes found the glowing purple circle on the floor at the same time, snapping up to meet each other as they realised what it was.

Hagger's cackling made them turn in synch, looking back where they had come from. Shiro activated his arm, moving to take a defensive stance in front of Sarah. "Pity the circle didn't work for you, Champion." the Dark Witch hissed.

"Your magic can't touch him anymore." Sarah gloated. "You can't hurt him ever again."

"Yes, I suspected as much." Hagger said, her voice dripping with malice.

"What…?" Sarah murmured; glancing back he saw she looked confused and lost. "But how would she…"

"I may not be able to touch my Champion with my magic." Hagger paused, her smile growing wider in a manner that made his stomach flip. "But I can still touch you."

He spun around when he heard the crackling of electricity, followed by a soft gasp from his wife. "Sarah!" he screamed as she fell, unconscious. He made to reach for her, but the field repelled him. Hagger cackled as he tried forcing his Galra hand through, only to be knocked back several feet.

"It's futile, Champion. Nothing can cross the barrier while it's activated." Suddenly, a dozen druids appeared between him and his trapped, unconscious wife. He felt dread fill him as he realised Hagger's real plan: he had just been bait to lure Sarah, who was the Dark Witch's true target.

Keith and Lance helped him to his feet, but he couldn't understand why they were trying to pull him away. "No!" he said fiercely, shaking off their grip. "I'm not leaving her!"

"Shiro, there's too many of them, I'm sure the castle's on its way now. We regroup, come back at full force, c'mon…" Lance said meekly, his eyes wide and fearful as he began backing away.

"No! No, we can-"

"Shiro…" Keith said softly. He looked to the Red Paladin, whose eyes were sad as he shook his head, backing away as Lance had, urging Shiro to follow. "There's nothing we can do right now…But we'll come back. I swear to you." Keith's eyes grew serious as he held Shiro's gaze. "We'll come back, and we'll save her, and rain hell down on them all."

Shiro closed his eyes for a moment, fighting back tears and the feeling of utter helplessness. When he opened them again, a fierce fire danced behind them and he nodded, following the younger Paladins. "We'll do more than that." he said savagely. "We'll kill them all."


	89. Chapter 87

Allura was visibly upset when they reached the castle, and became even moreso when she realised Sarah wasn't with them. Before she could ask what happened Shiro asked if the castle was ready to go. Upon receiving confirmation he made a beeline for his lion, not wanting to waste another second; he knew all too well what Hagger was capable of and did not want to leave Sarah in her clutches for much longer.

"Look," he began irritably when Allura kept insisting they make a plan and not act rashly. "I'm not going to force you to come. If you ask me to not take the Black Lion, I'll oblige. But I'm going. Alone or not, I am going." he said, fiercely glaring at her and daring the Princess to challenge his resolve.

Fortunately the other Paladins were more than willing to accompany him, for which he was immensely grateful. Though he was ready to go alone if he had to, the odds were better if he had allies.

"That hag has Sarah?" Kayla asked, alarmed, having overheard their discussion.

"I'm going to get her back." he assured her.

"Well I'm coming with." Krisox said, as he joined him from seemingly nowhere.

"Me too." Kayla said confidently.

"No you aren't!" Shiro and Krisox said at almost the same time, turning to face her as she froze, taken aback.

"Excuse me?" She crossed her arms across her chest and raised a scathing eyebrow. She looked so much like Sarah in that moment he wanted to just go, arguement be damned; but he knew she wouldn't likely forgive him if he let her little sister accompany them on a dangerous mission.

"Look, leave it to us, we'll get Sarah and be back before you know it." Krisox said, hugging the blonde girl. She huffed angrily before turning on her heel and stalking off. "She'll get over it, let's go." his brother-in-law sighed.

"What do you want?" Sarah asked defiantly, trying to mask the fear that bubbled just under her surface.

"I want to know how White Witches work." Hagger answered, motioning to the druids flanking her. They approached Sarah and took her by her arms, roughly forcing her to her feet. "If you happen to die during my experiments…" Sarah felt a shiver run down her spin as Hagger smiled maliciously; she was reminded of her prophetic nightmare and felt her fear double. "well, that's a risk I'm willing to take."

It wasn't long before he was back running through the facility. They weren't sure how to find Sarah, so they had split up. Shiro had teamed up with Krisox, but when druids blocked their path the Dularian insisted the Paladin go while he kept the Galrans busy. He felt he should argue, but knew that would waste time, and so he set off on his own.

"We got her, Shiro, over here!" Pidge called over the comms.

Shiro reached Pidge and Hunk in no time, slowing only because Rover 2.0 had just unlocked the door. When the door had risen enough for him to crouch under he slid in, looking around slightly frantically as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He found her small form sprawled on the ground and ran to her, kneeling and lifting her into his arms. "Sarah?" he whispered, terrified because she wasn't responding. He fefll back into a sitting position, cradling her. "Sarah, please…" he pleaded, tears springing to his eyes. He heard the sound of the others fighting draw closer but ignored it, fully focused on his wife whose breathing was shallow and weak.

He felt White reach his mind, concerned for Sarah; he shuddered as the concern turned to horror and grief. "Help me, please." he cried, not sure if the lion would be able to hear him. "Please…"

After a moment, White gave him visions, instructions for a technique that she was adamant would save Sarah from whatever Hagger had subjected her to. The lion warned him that it was an advanced technique but she would aid him. It involved transferring a portion of one's own life energy to that of another. "I'll do anything." he insisted fiercely. "Just walk me through it."

The lion did, and after a moment the air around them began to glow. He gritted his teeth, focusing on his quintessence and White's instructions. "C'mon, c'mon…" he muttered, closing his eyes so he could tune out everything else. After a moment, he heard her breathing return to normal, and she began to stir, just as he began to feel the draining side effects of the magic.

"Shiro…?" she asked softly, confused.

Opening his eyes, he found himself flat on the floor and slightly dizzy. Sarah was crouched over him, her eyes wide with worry. He was so relieved he didn't care about how weak he felt; he smiled at her, stroking her cheek softly. "You're okay…" he murmured.

"Thanks to you." she whispered, leaning down and gently kissing him.

Lost in her lips, it took him a second to realise he was getting some of his strength back. "Hey!" he gasped, sitting up quickly. "What are you doing?"

"Can't very well carry you out of here, can I?" she quipped.

"But, you-I-"

"I leveled us out babe." She pushed herself to her feet, extending her hand. "Probably leave the magic to the professionals next time." she teased as he took her hand and pulled himself up.

"Whatever you say." he murmured, pulling her close and kissing her passionately. Her soft hands framed his face, willing herself closer to him. They both seemed to completely tune out the world around them.

"Hey, that's sweet and all, and I'm glad you're okay, but we kind of have a situation out here." Krisox said from the open door.

Sarah sheepishly pulled away, taking his hand as they both left the cell, ready to face whatever adversity waited for them, together.


	90. Chapter 88

"WHY. WON'T. YOU. DIE." Hagger roared upon seeing Sarah and Shiro together.

Sarah couldn't help but grin at the witch's anger. "Don't antagonise her too much." Shiro said, smirking. "You should probably get out of here before things really get hairy."

She frowned. "What do you mean? I'm not leaving your side."

"Were you or were you not on the brink of death five minutes ago?"

"Were you or were you not severely weakened from reviving me three minutes ago?" she fired back smoothly.

"You have the most adorable couple squabbles, but I'm with Shiro, sis." Krisox interjected, his tone wary. "These fucks just keep crawling out of the woodwork."

Returning her attention to Hagger she saw that the witch had acquired half a dozen druids during her and Shiro's small disagreement. "Well, we are in druid country." she murmured.

"Right, well…." Krisox began airily, though his tone still had a sharp, wary edge. He walked over to the closest wall, examining the large rune for a second.

"Sarah!" Allura called out, running up to them from behind. Lance and Keith were close behind; both broke out into relieved grins when they saw her. When Allura reached her the Altean picked her up, hugging her tightly and spinning around. "Are you okay? I was so worried, what happened?" she asked after she set Sarah back down.

"Uh, catch up later maybe?" Shiro said, as Hagger stared them down, furious.

"Right, this should do the trick." Krisox said, placing his hand on the rune and closing his eyes. The black glowed purple for a second, and then all the runes in the hall were glowing. There was a bright flash and then it returned to normal; the Paladins, Allura, and Sarah blinked, confused.

"Well, that blinded me. Was it supposed to do that?" Sarah asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope. Try teleporting." Krisox replied with a smart-ass grin.

She tried, only a few feet because she did still feel slightly weak-but couldn't. "What the fuck?"

"Exactly. Now c'mon, the hags are getting antsy." he said, taking her hand and leading her away.

Before she could protest, Hagger howled in anger, building up a large, black and purple orb and then lobbing it at them. Reacting almost on instinct, Sarah raised a barrier quickly, causing the dark magic to ricochet back to the dark witches. She didn't see what happened next, as she passed out immediately after; she had unintentionally pushed herself too far again.

When she came to, she groaned. "Damnit." she muttered. Whoever was carrying her slowed to a halt.

"You're real good at that, ya know?" Krisox said, very close to her; he was the one holding her. "Feel like you can stand?"

"Yea…" she murmured, opening her eyes to see where they were. He hovered near her slightly as she stood, as if she were porcelain. "I'm good, Krisox."

"That's good to hear." Pidge said; looking around, Sarah found the small Paladin entering a room just ahead of them. "I wanted to look into something real quick."

"Is this really the time for hacking Galra shit?" Krisox asked, slightly exasperated, as he and Sarah followed Pidge in.

"Well pretty much everyone else is engaged elsewhere, so, yea, I think so."

"What are you looking for, Pidgey?" Sarah asked, staring around at the holographic panels curiously.

"Just information. Nothing specific, but this seems almost like the druid's base, and this is the Galra home planet…"

"Oh, speaking of, did we get anything from Hagger?"

"Haven't had a chance to check." Pidge said as they got themselves setup.

Sarah nodded, trying to make sense of the Galra interface, to no avail. "Wish we could translate Galra or something." she grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Shiro, what was that?" Pidge said suddenly, apprehensive. Sarah looked up, and half a second later realised her cybernetic ear implant wasn't tuned to the comms channel.

"What happened?" she asked, alert.

"Ah…It was nothing major," they said, turning to Sarah. "one of the druids broke something, but our team is okay."

"They broke something?" she asked, frowning.

"Something about the ceiling falling in, our crew is pulling out now." They hooked Rover 2.0 up to the console they were seated in front of and began the download. "I don't think I'll be able to get a whole lot, but something's better than nothing, right?"

"Yea…." Sarah murmured, staring at nothing in particular; before she could get too lost in thought, her brother pulled her attention to him.

"What are you thinking?"

"This just…feels too easy…." She looked to Krisox, her eyes worried.

He nodded in wary agreement. "I get that feeling a lot. But," he smirked. "I don't think the witch planned on you escaping again."

Sarah gave him a small smile. "I think I'm succeeding in becoming the biggest pain in her ass imaginable."

"I daresay you are." Krisox laughed.

"Okay, let's get moving." Pidge said a moment later, unplugging Rover 2.0 from the console. "Lance and Keith have already made it back to their lions." The siblings nodded, following Pidge's lead as they began running back through the halls towards their exit. "Yea, we're almost there." Pidge said to the others via comms. "We just made a small reconnaissance detour, nothing major-don't bite my head off, oh my god. This the the Galra home planet and druid HQ, there was a window of opportunity and I took advantage of it. Sue me."

Sarah giggled to herself at Pidge's snarky tone as they rounded a corner and came upon an airlock. After adjusting their helmets, they stepped out to board the lions.

"White's here?" Sarah asked, confused. "But…?"

She and her brother boarded her small lion and she discovered Shiro was at the helm. "She's letting you pilot her?" she asked excitedly.

"She's very in-tune with you, she knew you needed help and…she trusts me." he said, smiling warmly back at her as she approached the chair. She returned the smile, walking around the arms to sit in his lap sideways, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling his neck. He kissed the top of her head before taking off. "Okay, let's go home."


	91. Chapter 89

"Do neither of you understand the gravity of the state of the universe?" Allura asked angrily. She had been disregarded one too many times recently; this had evidently been the last straw.

When they returned and jettisoned as far away from the Galra planet as they could, White recommended Sarah visit the Aywei system again to recuperate. They weren't clear what Hagger had done to her, but after the witch invading her mind and ten performing god knows what experiments, Sarah was in need of some rest and cleansing. It was only when Shiro insisted on accompanying his wife amidst Allura's protests that she burst.

"We can't risk not having Voltron at our disposal!"

"I understand that, but we both almost died." Shiro said, not backing down. "Why don't you come with us if you're so concerned over us splitting up?"

"I've received word that one of Hagger's robeasts have touched down in a system not far from here, I think she's testing something, but there are innocents on that planet and it's our duty to protect them." the Altean replied fiercely. "We will need Voltron to defeat it!"

"Babe, you probably should-" Sarah began.

"No, no. I'm sorry. I know I have responsibilities as a Paladin, but I just….Right now, I need to be with my wife." he said firmly. He cradled Sarah's worried face in his human hand, stroking her cheek gently. "We both came so close to never seeing each other ever again…..I need to be with her, so I can recover too."

The couple left in White the next day, leaving behind them a tense atmosphere. Allura hadn't budged from her position, and had apparently been too angry and frustrated to see them off. Oliver hadn't been present either; Sarah assumed Oli was with Allura somewhere.

She absolutely hated having disagreements with her friends. She tended to avoid them at all costs to maintain harmony. She could understand why Allura would want Shiro to stay, but she needed to be selfish, at least for once; husband and wife needed some time alone with each other to heal.

"Did White tell you where to go?" Shiro asked after they landed on the same plateau as before.

"Yea. Some time meditating in the cave, and cleansing in the lake should do the trick."

They began in the cathedral like cave Sarah had first met her mentor in. The couple sat back to back, closing their eyes and meditating until it seemed their hearts beat in sync and long after. They only stopped when their stomachs growled; they laughed over their losing track of time and departed the cave, finding White waiting for them right outside. The lion really was very in tune with Sarah, even at a distance.

After they ate, White flew them over the valley wall to the rejuvenating, crystal clear lake. "Okay, so how do we uh….do this part?" Shiro asked, standing at the water's edge. Sarah felt herself grow flushed, but was spared explaining when White evidently did it for her. "Oh." He turned to Sarah, his eyes mildly concerned. "You okay with that?"

She smiled appreciatively; Shiro was very respectful of her desire to avoid complete nudity whenever possible. It made her feel uncomfortable and vulnerable and she hated it. But White insisted that it was necessary for the waters to truly take effect. "I…think so." she said hesitantly.

Shiro smiled encouragingly and drew her into a gentle hug, kissing her forehead. "I'll go first, and I'll wait in the water and you can take as long as you need to." He leaned back, cradling her face in his hands, looking into her eyes. "Okay?" he asked softly. She relaxed a bit, nodding, and they shared a sweet kiss.

Shiro called out to her when he was submerged, and she felt her heart begin to race and the back of neck grow hot. Rationally she knew there was no reason to be so nervous; there was no one else on the planet besides her and her husband. And it wasn't like they hadn't made love before, but she'd never been fully nude with him before. After she removed everything, she wrapped her arms around her chest and tentatively poked the water with her toe. Surprisingly, the water was comfortable and inviting. She waded out to where Shiro was, wrapping her arms around his middle from behind.

"Hey, Princess." he said softly, peeking at her over his shoulder. "You feel like going for a swim?"

She smiled up at him and nodded. The rest of the night was sweet, romantic, and rejuvenating; she fell asleep soon after they made love and when she woke, she felt refreshed and cleansed of Hagger's residual energies.


	92. Chapter 90

The following day found them in the cave again, meditating once more. The goal this time was to find peace of mind while also being connected to the other's mind. It proved difficult at first, as Sarah's mind was almost like a hurricane of thoughts and ideas and Shiro had trouble finding calm in the storm. After he learned how to navigate without being overwhelmed, he felt he could spend eternity perusing his wife's thoughts and he could tell she felt the same; they were now connected in a way they never imagined possible.

The link was broken when the felt the ground shake beneath them. "This planet isn't prone to earthquakes, is it?" he asked warily as the ground became still. Shiro stood, offering his hand to Sarah and pulling her up.

"Not to my knowledge…." she said, her eyebrows furrowing in concern. "White says that no, it isn't. She's trying to get a read on who it is but we should probably start heading back to the surface."

Shiro nodded and followed her up the sloping gem corridor. About half way, she stopped suddenly. "Oh goddamnit." she grumbled, and whether it was because of an intuitive feeling or because they had just linked minds, he knew who had come to the planet; the Dark Witch.

"How is that even possible?" he asked, exasperated.

"I don't fucking kn-" Shiro looked up as she cut off abruptly, her eyes becoming unfocused.

"Sarah?" he asked softly.

"That bitch…." she gasped, reaching her right hand around to feel the base of her head. "That bitch!"

"What is it?"

"She put a tracker in me!" Sarah answered furiously. "Absolute hag…."

"Okay, what do we do?"

"'We'?" she asked, slightly confused. "Shiro, this entire system is bursting with quintessence. Our witchy abilities are going to be amplified, like, tenfold."

"I'm not letting you face her alone!" he said firmly, gesturing with his Galra arm. "The whole reason we came out here was-"

"Wait. Put your hand near the wall again." Sarah interrupted.

"I-what?" he asked, confused over the seemingly random change of subject. "Like…?" He hovered his Galra hand half a foot away from the gem wall; they both gasped as the wall seemed to respond to it, glowing slightly. He powered his appendage up and touched the wall, jolting back when it glowed bright purple and crackled with electricity.

"Huh." Sarah murmured thoughtfully. "Well that's interesting."


	93. Chapter 91

"I'll be right here, waiting for your signal." Shiro had said when the reached the top of the plateau. It was the only clear space in the valley, as the floor was covered in thick flora. They hadn't pegged Hagger for one to want to hide and ambush them; they figured she had pursued them in anger and would want to confront them right off the bat. So the best place for both parties would be the spot with the most visibility. And thus Sarah found herself standing seemingly alone on the plateau's flat surface, arms crossed over her chest, as she watched the Dark Witch approach.

"Where's your Champion, White Witch?" Hagger called, stopping a good distance from Sarah.

"He's around." she answered calmly, though just under her surface she felt extremely nervous. She wanted to be brave and steadfast for Shiro, but the witch had very nearly killed her and while she couldn't remember exactly how, the flashes she could recall were terrifying. She was scared, pure and simple. But knowing Shiro was close by, that she wasn't alone, helped ease her fears.

"You won't get away this time." Hagger spat. "I won't let you."

"See, here's the thing you don't seem to get." Sarah said lightly, stretching her arms behind her head. "I do whatever the fuck I want, and absolutely no one tells me what to do." Now, do it now.

A split second later and the exposed gemstones in the plateau began glowing and crackling with electricity. Smiling despite her trepidation, she slid her foot back, bending her knees, as she hovered her hands low and slowly raised them, breaking off pieces of the gemstones beneath the soil and dragging them skyward. When she had a half a dozen floating in the air, she pushed, sending them flying at the Dark Witch. Hagger threw up a barrier of dark energy, sending several of the large gems ricocheting out into the valley. Sarah managed to catch some and throw them in a wide arc, over the witch's protection. Hagger vanished, and Sarah lost her amongst the dust that had been kicked up.

"Hey, where'd she go?" Shiro called, running up to her.

"I don't know, she vanished when I threw some gems at her sideways." Sarah said, panting slightly as she scanned the plateau.

"There he is….I knew he wouldn't be far." Hagger said, her voice seeming to come from everywhere.

The couple stood alert, back to back, looking for the Dark Witch. She reappeared twenty feet away, a black and purple orb already formed in her hand. In the split second before she fired off a beam of dark plasma energy, Sarah created her own orb and held it out in front of them; Hagger's beam hit it and split off around it. She and Shiro winced at the rush of wind that came with it, blowing dust and debris at them and clouding their vision.

As the dust settled, Sarah noticed the deep scorch marks Hagger's magic left on the ground around them; they glowed fiery and purple, pulsing slightly. Momentarily distracted, it wasn't until Shiro called her name that she looked up to see the Dark Witch hurling a chunk of gemstone towards them. Throwing up her hands, she managed to catch it, but the force of Hagger's magic pushed her back a few feet. Gritting her teeth, she tried to lean forward, pushing against the opposing force of magic, but neither witch was making any headway. Wanting to make some kind of progress, she shifted her direction, causing the boulder to fly off the plateau and tumble into the valley below.

"You okay?" Shiro asked by her side. "You aren't exh-uh, Sarah, what's happening?"

All around them on the plateau and in the valley, pieces of earth and gem seemed to be floating away from the planet's surface. "I….I don't know." she said, confused and wary. She could feel the flow of quintessence had become twisted and tangled since they began their battle. But she couldn't understand what exactly was happening.

A deafening crack sent her hands flying to cover her ears, scrunching her eyes closed in fear. She would have waited till the loud noise was gone if Shiro hadn't shaken her shoulder frantically. Peeking through her lashes, her eyes flew wide open in fear; Hagger was decapitating a mountain. She knew she should do something, but the mountain was still cracking and crumbling loudly, echoing across the valley. She whimpered, clutching her ears ever more tightly. Shiro said something she couldn't make out and she saw him charge the Dark Witch, powering up his Galra arm. She turned just before he reached her, vanishing as he swiped through the air where she had just been.

The broken off mountain top fell with a loud crash when she vanished, settling back on its base. Sarah cried out in fear, sinking to a crouch. In the back of her mind she knew full well that her fear of loud noises was irrational, but try as she might she couldn't fight it and it made her useless in some moments.

After a moment, the world became quiet. She felt Shiro's hand on her shoulder and shakily rose to her feet. "I'm sorry…" she mumbled, staring at her hands which were still trembling slightly. "I'm-"

"SARAH!"

Her wide, confused eyes found Shiro, who hadn't left where he almost got the Witch and was only now running back to her. If Shiro was there….then who-?

Turning slowly, she barely had a chance to react before the Witch, who had taken the form of Shiro in Galra prisoner garb, grabbed her by the neck and lifted her in the air. Her hands gripped the Witch's Galra arm at her throat as her legs kicked fruitlessly at the air. What the fuck kind of magic is this….? she thought as she felt her consciousness ebbing. Suddenly she felt herself flying through the air, and soon after she felt gravity pulling her back, strong arms caught her, their owner grunting slightly.

"Sarah, you okay?" Shiro asked as she groaned.

"That was a mean trick." she pouted, massaging her neck and glaring at the Witch who still looked like Shiro.

"Yea, she pulled that on me, too, once." he said grimly, helping her to her feet. "Do you know how-?"

She looked up when Shiro froze, finding him stare in disbelief at the ground as he began to rise in the air. She, too, had begun to leave the ground, and she realised the planet's gravity was fluctuating wildly.

"Sarah what is this?" he asked trepidatiously, grabbing her hand so they wouldn't drift away from each other.

"I don't know!" she cried wildly, looking for Hagger amongst the the floating pieces of rock, gem, and flora that now littered the air. She found the Witch just as confused as they were, now in her true form. Her eyes connected with Sarah's and she kicked off a nearby boulder, forming a dark, electrified orb in her hand. "Shiro, look out!" she yelled, releasing his hand and kicking off from him, sending them both flying away from each other. Hagger's beam of dark energy cut through the air where they just were, blasting rocks and gems to pieces. Sarah shielded her face as sharp, jagged debris flew in every direction.

When her back bumped into something large, she twisted in the air, grabbed onto the large piece of amethyst-looking gemstone, pulling herself on top of it and holding on, crouched, as she tried to look around and see where Shiro ended up. Though she couldn't find her husband, she did find Hagger, who was teleporting from one floating boulder to another, looking for her prey. Sarah carefully released her grip on the stone she was on, miming with her hands and raising it in the air to give herself a better vantage point. Eyeing a decent sized ruby-coloured gem boulder, she held her fists together for a second, focusing on the quintessence wrapping its way around that particular stone, before pulling her hands apart, fingers wide. The gem splintered into a hundred shards, hovering in the air and waiting for her next command.

Just as she found the Dark Witch again, she found Sarah, and the small White Witch flung her hands in Hagger's direction, sending the flurry of piercing shards at her. They rained down around her, but she deflected them with ease. The two began an almost cat and mouse chase through the sky, sometimes losing their footing as gravity fluctuated again. Both Sarah and Hagger took to turning pieces of the floating earth and gemstones into their own weapons, hurling shard after shard in the direction of their adversary. A few found purchase; Sarah sustained a shallow but long scratch on her arm and she spotted Hagger inspecting a wound on her purple face.

The tables turned as Sarah was in mid-air, jumping from one boulder to another; gravity fluctuated even more violently than before, causing her to miss, her fingers just barely scraping its surface as she flew over it. Hagger seized the opportunity, conjuring a large black and purple orb and firing a thick beam of energy at the helplessly floating White Witch. She barely had time to react, crossing her arms in front of her face to brace herself. The Dark Magic struck her, burning her arms and launching her through the air until she hit a passing boulder, knocking the wind out of her. When she next came to, she was on the solid earth of the plateau again.

Groaning, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, sitting back as she held her aching arms. Looking around, she couldn't see anyone, only bits of earth and gem settling back to the surface as gravity seemed to return to normal. Before she had time to wonder what had just happened, Hagger appeared in the air in front of her, hovering above the wounded and frightened White Witch.

"Now I get to wipe you from universe for good!" she cackled.

Sarah was too exhausted, scared, and hurt to move, her eyes widening in fear as the Dark Witch before her gathered Dark Magic in her hands. This is it. she thought, tears springing to her eyes.

"NO!" someone roared angrily from her right. Shiro stopped in front of her just as Hagger fired her Dark Energy; miraculously, his Galra hand blocked the beam, diverting it around his outstretched prosthetic. She saw his feet dig into the earth as he fought against the magic. Hagger tried to put her all into the beam, but she couldn't sustain it for long. The Dark Witch sank back to the ground as her beam fizzled out. Both glared at each other, panting. "You are never going to touch her again." he growled menacingly.

Before the Witch could respond, the ground trembled terribly, splitting in several places. Hagger hissed and vanished as the planet's surface seemed to break apart. "What's happening?!" Shiro yelled over the cacophony, helping Sarah to her feet and holding on tight lest they both fall over.

"I don't know!" she whimpered, clinging to him.

They both looked up when a lion's roar pierced through the chaos. White swooped in, gently scooping them up in her jaws before flying off again. Shiro took to the pilot's seat as Sarah clung to the back. "I think it's safe to say this vacation is over." she said dryly despite her fear.

"I daresay you're right." Shiro replied with a nod, carefully navigating the debris filled air. "As soon as we're out of the system conta-" Both cried out as something blasted White's side, causing her to tumble through the air. "What was that?" he asked, bewildered. "Did we hit something?"

Sarah closed her eyes, reaching out to White to gauge the cause of the damage. "Hagger!" she gasped, shuddering from her Lion's pain. "Shiro, White's hurt and b-bad!" she said as tears began streaming down her face.

"I'm gonna get us out of here, just hang on a bit longer." he said, gritting his teeth. Soon they were out of the planet's atmosphere and fast moving out of the system. "Doesn't look like she's following us…." Shiro murmured as he checked the scanners. "Just a bit further and we can hail the castle…."

Just before they made it out of the system, a wormhole opened before them, too close for them to avoid it. "What….how-?" Sarah shook her head, sharing a concerned look with her husband. "That can't be Allura, can it?"

"No….do you think it's-?" he began, before being cut off by White's mental communication with them; she had opened the wormhole, as she desperately needed to get away to heal. They braced themselves as they passed through it, as it wasn't the most stable of passages. When they reached the other side they found themselves in the atmosphere of a planet, almost falling through the sky. Shiro fought to regain control, just barely pulling up before they struck the planet's surface, and through great care slowed them down, managing to bring them to a haphazard landing.

Sarah was out first, running around to inspect the extent of White's injuries. Her hands leapt to her mouth when she saw the long, black scorch marks on her Lion's side. Shiro pulled her to his chest as she began crying again. "W-what are we g-gonna do?" she asked shakily.

"We'll figure something out." he said soothingly, stroking her hair. "We'll….we'll figure…"

"Shiro?" she asked, confused, pulling back to look at him. His hands went to his head as he stumbled dizzily. "Shiro?!" She watched in horror as her husband fell to his hands and knees before collapsing over to one side. She knelt next to him, anxiously checking his pulse. Though she was relieved he was still alive, she looked between her unconscious husband and her wounded Lion, feeling hopelessness wash over her. "What am I gonna do…..?"


	94. Chapter 92

Shiro lost track of time for a long while. He was in and out, succumbing to frightening fever dreams more often than not. When he was conscious, though only just barely, he remembered being half-carried through the streets of a dilapidated shanty town, Sarah frantically knocking on someone's door…..and all throughout he felt hot like he was on fire and heavy like he had hundred pound weights dragging him down. He felt chills run up his body off and on, a stark contrast to the heat that was surprisingly uncomfortable.

He wasn't sure when or how long he had been in and out, but when he regained full consciousness, pale morning light filtered through wooden shutters that looked a hundred years around, it looked like he was in a one-room shack, judging by a dingy kitchenette, a pile of folded clothes in one corner, and the two sleeping bodies on the floor with him. One was Sarah, sound asleep in the early morning, and the other he did not recognise. He carefully sat up, and crawled over to the shuttered window, trying to get a look outside.

He saw a narrow dirt road lined with stacked shanty shacks which towered far into the sky. Very little moved, which he didn't think odd considering the hour, but what struck him as unusual was that, as he continued to observe, absolutely nothing moved. There were no small animals, no pests skittering about as one would typically find where a large number of people lived. He couldn't tell if there was any kind of breeze, and he couldn't see anything green, not even weeds or moss.

Sarah mumbling in her sleep drew his attention back to the inside of the shack. He saw her eyebrows knitted close together, her face tense as she dreamed. Though he had likely slept for days and wasn't tired, he laid down next to her, resting his head on one arm while his draped over Sarah's midsection, gently pulling her closer to him. She seemed to relax at his touch, her face now soft, a small smile forming on her lips. He closed his eyes, listening to her soft breathing and relishing in the gentle moment; everything had been so stressful lately, it felt like he hadn't had any time to stop to catch his breath.

He wasn't sure when he fell asleep again, but when he next opened his eyes, he found Sarah's deep blue orbs watching him, crinkling as she smiled. "Hey, sleeping beauty." she cooed, stroking his cheek.

He chuckled, capturing her hand and turning to kiss her palm before sitting up. "How long was I out?"

"A few days. Four, at most."

"Where are we?"

"You remember that video I showed everyone, of the planet being drained by Zarkon?" she asked, watching his expression carefully.

"Yea…." His eyes widened as it clicked. "We're on it?" Sarah nodded grimly. "But how?"

"Not sure, I think White just picked a place at random."

"No, I mean, there's still people living here, how can they still be living here?"

"By the skin of our teeth, honestly." a voice said as someone entered the shack. Looking up he saw the other person he had seen sleeping earlier that day. He watched the curious alien unloading the several bags they had been carrying. "When the planet died, those who could, left. Those who could not…." she trailed off sadly. "Sarah," they began, turning to her. "there wasn't much, but I got what I could."

"Thanks so much!" Sarah said gratefully, standing up to look through the bags. "I can definitely work with this."

"Um…?" Shiro asked, tilting his head, confused.

"I asked Satla to get as many parts as she could, I'm going to try and build a randomised transmitter." she answered brightly, bringing the heavy bags over and sitting in front of him again.

"We have not been properly introduced, Takashi Shirogane." Satla said, bowing her head respectfully. "I am Satlawna Killoni Sardus. I belong to the same internet group as Sarah, we watch the skies together."

"I told you, Satla, you don't need to be so formal." Sarah said offhandedly, going through the bags piece by piece. "Satla is the person who sent me the video." she said to Shiro, glancing up at him. "She was on her way home when it happened. Whatever Zarkon and Hagger did fucked with communications in and around the system, they haven't been able to get anything fully functional again."

"And since most of those who were skilled in this area left and aren't coming back, we've been in a pickle, to use one of Sarah's earthian phrases." Satla said, sitting down, their six eyes watching him curiously.

"If….it's okay to ask, how have the people who couldn't leave….how have they been surviving so long?" he asked tentatively.

"Several cartels, who had been headquartered here, began bringing in food and supply imports. They give us what we need to live in return for….whatever they feel like asking for." Satla grimaced, or he assumed she did; her face was too alien for him to read. "They have taken advantage of our plight." she said, as her soft, gentle, steady voice grew deep and dark.

He found Sarah watching her friend carefully, her expression serious; when she felt his eyes on her she held his gaze for a moment before returning to the bags. He knew that look all too well. "Sarah…." he began warningly.

"What?" she asked innocently, not looking up as she organised bits and pieces of scrap.

"I know you want to help, and I do too, but we need to focus on the big picture here."

"Yea, but there's not much we can do about the big picture until I can get a word out or after White heals." she replied smoothly, not missing a beat. He had a feeling she had rehearsed this conversation in her head, knowing what he'd say. She looked up, holding his gaze. "But we can do something to help these people while we're here."

They steadily held each other's gaze for a long moment, almost having a non verbal argument, before he sighed defeatedly. "Okay, fine. Do you have any kind of plan?" He couldn't help but smirk slightly as he watched her triumphant face beam at him.

"Not just yet, I need information first. I know next to nothing about these cartels. Satla has plenty of contacts and a good deal of her own information."

"You want me to do some recon?"

"If you don't mind." she said with a nod.

"I'll see what I can do."


	95. Chapter 93

"So do you know what got me so sick?" Shiro asked, as he and Sarah leisurely walked down the main road. Satla had said that one of the cartels were dropping off a shipment of supplies later that day, and he and Sarah were on their way to do some reconnaissance.

"Not really, but I have a theory. I'd need to run it past White first but I haven't been able to get back to her since we arrived…" she trailed off, watching the ground as they walked. Shiro squeezed her hand, offering her a reassuring smile.

"We'll get back out to her. She knows we wouldn't abandon her." he said confidently.

She returned his smile brightly before continuing. "I think it might have been when you blocked Hagger's blast there near the end? I think you might have absorbed some of it."

"Absorbed it?" he asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "It's just a theory. But the powerful spell I hit you with fought back. Kind of like your immune system with bacteria and viruses and stuff."

"Sounds like a solid theory to me. And it makes sense, too. I felt like I had the flu, times ten." He grimaced dramatically, earning a laugh from his little wife.

"I'm glad you're better." she said moving her arms to wrap around his middle and nuzzling his chest.

He chuckled, kissing the top of her head.

They soon reached the drop off location, smoothly sliding into an alley across from it and hiding in the shadows. Shiro leaned back against the wall, watching the area hawkishly. Judging by how the people loitered around the area and gripped their guns tightly, the drop off was coming soon.

Sure enough, a few minutes later they heard a large craft dominate the air as the bulky ship flew over them, hovering above the drop off spot. Regular citizens scattered, running inside or ducking into alleys. They seemed fearful of those now unloading the crates, but Shiro noticed that there weren't very many of them and wondered how many cartels there were and how the people came to fear them so much.

"So no one's really sure just how many there are?" Sarah asked after they had returned to Satla's shack. The alien had managed to find more pieces of scrap and the small witch resumed trying to put together a randomised transmitter. She had only ever seen someone build one before, but had fiddled with hers many times and was confident she could figure it out.

"Unfortunately." Satla replied. "I know there are only three cartels. But their members? Uncertain. Some are our friends and neighbours…but since we do not know who, it keeps us in fear."

Sarah nodded, thinking. Her mind was a confusing whirlwind of thoughts and so she decided to verbally tease them apart. "I think we need something that would get them to….I don't know….react, a certain way. Like, um…." she paused, staring up at the ceiling as she fought with her memory. "Kinda like in one of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Holmes started a fake fire or something to see what Irene Adler's knee-jerk reaction would be and it gave her away."

"I'm not sure I'm following." Satla said apologetically.

"Okay, well, something happens, and everyone in town reacts to it, right? The regular, non-cartel citizens will probably act in a predictable way; they'll run for cover or hide or just in general try to get out of the way of the perceived danger. But those in the cartels….I'm thinking they're more likely to be retaliatory. Investigate the source. That's just….a theory, of sorts." she said with a shrug.

"We'll more likely than not be able to test that theory. I have an idea that kind of goes along with it….in a way." Shiro said, turning a piece of scrap metal over in his hand. "I'm kind of thinking of it like an anthill…..did you ever step on them for fun as a kid?"

Sarah bit her lip, trying to remember her childhood. Most of it was a blur, but she could vaguely remember elementary school. "Yea…I think so….or, if I didn't, some other kids would. You stomp on it real fast and then watch them come scurrying all over the place?

Shiro smiled and nodded. "So basically something like that. Maybe the drop zone can be the anthill, the cartel members the ants…..and we'll be doing the stomping."

"And I can keep watch to count as they scurry." Satla added, clapping her hands.

Sarah took Shiro's flesh hand and squeezed it gently, smiling appreciatively; she knew he wanted to get back to the castle and fulfill his role of a Voltron Paladin, and it meant a lot that he was actively assisting her self-assigned mission.


	96. Chapter 94

Just as planned, the couple stomped on the anthill to see what happened. As predicted, there was a flurry of movement as the cartel tried to discover who had caused the disturbance. For a few days, their security seemed tightened. Sarah, Shiro, and Satla took turns monitoring the cartel movements, trying to find any patterns that might exist: shifts, sleep cycles, intragroup problems, etc.

When they had a pretty good idea of the different shifts and the cartel's security lessened as the supposed threat appeared to be gone, they began stealing small amounts of food and supplies from where the cartel was storing it all. It wasn't much; just what they could manage in small, hit-and-run type of attacks. As they dispersed the food and supplies throughout the shantytown, a noticeable change in the well-being and demeanor of its inhabitants took place. The cartels caught on after a week, but had no way of knowing what was being stolen from them or how.

When she felt they had a good lay of the land, Sarah suggested they aim bigger with their attacks. When Shiro inquired as to why, she answered. "I want the leaders to be drawn out. I doubt these cartels are as well organised as Nitro, if we can take out the leaders we can probably take out the cartels with them."

Shiro seemed to have faith that her plan would work out in her favour, as most of them did, and they rolled out more intense assaults, actively engaging with some of the cartel members. They also began taking more and more often. Those on the ground seemed woefully inept at keeping their loot secure; Sarah knew it was only a matter of time before someone who was competent and in charge would show up to handle the situation.

It only took a few days of their intensified strategy before someone who fit that description showed up.

"You won't be able to escape. They will round everyone up for an inspection." Satla said worriedly.

"We don't need to escape."Sarah said simply, toiling away at her randomised transmitter. "I want them to capture us. I'm hoping the cartel leader will come honestly, that'd make everything go a lot faster."

Out of the corner of her eye Sarah saw Satla look to Shiro for help understanding; he readily explained. "Sarah thinks if we can take out the leaders, the cartel will crumble."

"But how will you do that? They are surely heavily armed." Satla continued, as Shiro's words seemed to do little to quell her fear.

"We've gotten out of tighter spots before." Sarah said with a shrug. "I told you he's a Voltron Paladin right?"

"Yes, and he can weaponise it if he so wishes." Satla said with a nod. "But it is you I worry about. You are small, and I do not remember you professing any kind of combative skill."

As an answer and an example, Sarah rose a small piece several feet away into the air, maneuvering it to her with a wave of her hand. Satla gasped, watching in awe as it seemed to float through the air before Sarah grabbed it and returned to her machine.

"She can be quite the little terror when she wants to be." Shiro said teasingly, laughing when Sarah playfully shoved him.

Their light moment was interrupted by yelling from the street outside, causing the three to look up in sync.

"Guess it's showtime!" Sarah said, standing up and stretching.

Outside on the street they were corralled in with the other citizens, surrounded by cartel members with menacing-looking guns. A makeshift stage had been set up at the front of the crowd and a tall, slender insectoid alien observed the crowd before him carefully.

"My money's on him." Sarah whispered to Shiro.

"I think you're right." he murmured back. "Any particular plan or just wing it?"

"Um…I don't want to reveal our cards too soon, so…maybe no magic, no arm until we know for sure we're in the presence of the leader." she suggested as Shiro nodded. "When they spot us-"

"How do you know they'll spot us?"

"Look at us, we're the most well-nourished people here. I could probably pass for a starving citizen, but sorry love, frail you ain't." she said with a chuckle.

He sighed. "You got a point there. Sorry, you were saying?"

"When they spot us, I don't want them to suspect anything, so uh….I guess act….convincing….?" She paused for a moment. "Says the girl who can't act worth a damn…."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that. You can be very convincing sometimes." Shiro assured her, taking her hand in his. She smiled appreciatively up at him before they both turned their focus back to the front. The insectoid's gaze landed on them, his small, beady green eyes narrowing as they did not avert their own gaze. "I think we've been spotted." Shiro said, smirking slightly.

Sarah watched as the green insectoid motioned to some of the members surrounding the group. "Yes, I daresay we have." she agreed lightly.


	97. Chapter 95

Sarah thought they made a pretty good show of resisting; she had just tried to act naturally, reacting to getting manhandled with whimpers and "Please don't hurt us"'s. Shiro was more physical, fighting back just enough for it to be believable but not so much that they couldn't restrain him. After heavy, metal cuffs were slapped on them both, the insectoid led the way to a large, decrepit hangar where his ship was housed. It wasn't a large ship, just a bit smaller than the White Lion, and Sarah figured that the cartel's main ship was orbiting the planet.

Her guess proved right: the insectoid's ship docked inside a large vessel, and when they disembarked they were met with several armed guards. Once again, the insectoid led the way, this time through dimly lit, rust-coloured halls that had chemical stains on them.

Upon reaching a large, grandiose door, it opened suddenly, splitting in half and sliding into the wall, revealing a large lounge room. As they were led in, Sarah made note of all the different aliens staring at them, trying to determine which one was the boss. She soon found she didn't have to, as he made himself known very soon after they entered.

"Are these them?" the yellow-green alien asked, his black, pupil-less eyes roving over them both.

"Yes." the insectoid hissed. "I am most sure. Look at the tall one; he is well nourished and healthy. He does not originate from Fyluh."

"But the small one? She is frail-"

"She was with the tall one, they were holding each other."

"I see, I see…"

"I wish I knew what they were saying…." Shiro whispered, and it hit her that they were speaking an alien language-her earpiece had automatically translated it for her.

"The one with black eyes is just confirming that we're the ones they were looking for." she murmured so only he could hear.

"How do you-?"

"Earpiece." she whispered, barely moving her lips. "It auto-translates. Made life easier in our early days on Stiea K2."

"So," the boss said, turning to face them. "What do we do with saboteurs who come from off-world?" He looked between them, almost as if he were expecting an answer. "I'll give you a hint…." he took a step toward them, leaning in close. "It's very painful." Sarah watched impassively as his lips curled into a sickening grin. He straightened up and turned to the insectoid. "Take them to the holding cells and prepare the chamber. Have the broadcast setup and ready, so we can teach the locals what happens when you interfere in our business."

The insectoid nodded and motioned to the guards beside them, who gruffly turned them around and pushed them through the halls. Upon reaching the holding cells, a large grate door was raised and the two were shoved into a grimy, cramped room. The door was lowered quickly, hitting the floor with a clang and a click as the locking mechanism took hold. All but two of the armed guards departed. Sarah and Shiro huddled near the back to plan their next move.

"So what did he say at the end?" Shiro whispered, keeping an eye on the two guards posted just outside.

"He hinted at torture and they intend to broadcast it to the citizens. Teach 'em a lesson sort of thing." Sarah replied casually, her eyes darting around as she took in the environment.

"Well that doesn't sound pleasant." Shiro sighed, leaning against the back wall. "Can you get a read on how many members there are?"

"Already did, there's approximately 72."

"Not exactly the best odds but I think we can manage, yea?" he asked, smiling when she nodded. "So what do we do now?"

"I was hoping to hear what you think we should do."

"Hmmm….our goal is the boss, that black-eyed creep, right?"

She nodded.

"We might need to take out most of his guys first. He might be a handful by himself, I'd rather not risk having his crew still freely moving about."

"Okay." she said, nodding again. "We could probably throw em in here. And the other cells. They seem like they can hold non-magic folk well enough." Sarah smirked as she brought her previously handcuffed hands to her front, discarding the heavy cuffs. "Shall we begin?" she asked as she removed Shiro's cuffs.

"Ladies first." he answered with his own smirk.

"You'd think these guys have never had to face a witch before." Sarah said jokingly, as she locked up another member of the cartel.

"Well, i have heard they're a rare breed." Shiro said, wrapping his arms around her middle and kissing her neck.

"Shiirrooo, this is neither the time nor the place." she whined, though her smile betrayed her.

He smiled against her skin before moving to the console to check the locks. "Okay, I think we got everyone besides the boss, that insect alien, and a few others."

"Alrighty. I can probably subdue his mates if you want to just rush him? Whatever you think is best, I'm flexible." Sarah said, stretching.

"That sounds good to me." he replied, activating his Galra arm and plunging it into the console, ensuring no one would be able to escape easily. After he pulled his hand out of the sparking wreckage, he joined his wife as they made their way to the room with the grandiose door. "Are they on high alert?" Shiro asked when they reached it.

Sarah closed her eyes and explored the room. She found five or six armed aliens, the insectoid and the boss, all facing the big door. "Yep. And they're all looking this way. Armed to the teeth." She rested her hands on her hips and looked up to him. "Wanna use the front door or find another way in?"

"Hmmm…..Your shield can block plasma bolts right?"

"Yea."

"Okay, then i have an idea."

After Shiro was in position, Sarah slowly opened the door, still maintaining a quintessence shield in case they opened fire. Which they did. Everyone except the insectoid and the cartel boss attacked her, until enough of the plasma bolts bounced off her invisible barrier and ricocheted around the room.

"Stop, stop, you'll kill us all!" the boss yelled, ducking and shielding his face. When the ruckus died down, he straightened up and glared at her. "Just what are you?" he growled. "And where is your mate?"

Before she could answer, Shiro had his activated purple arm around the yellow-green alien's neck. When he gasped, all the others in the room turned, raising their weapons. "I wouldn't do that. Not if you want your boss to live." Shiro said to the room at large. "Tell them to lower their weapons."

"Do it, do it, lower them!" he said frantically, frozen in fear. One by one his crew gently dropped their weapons on the floor. As soon as they touched the ground, Sarah scooped them up into the air, bringing them together. When she had them all, she moved the bundle through the air, stopping behind her and holding it hovering in the air.

"Very nice. Okay, here's what's gonna happen…." Shiro began.

"You're back-alive!" Satla gasped in astonishment after they landed the insectoid's craft back in the hanger. "How? Where's the cartel?"

"We took care of them." Sarah said proudly as Shiro shut down the ship's systems. "They won't be coming back. One down, two to go, right?"

Satla nodded in amazement. "I do not understand….it was only two of you against a cartel!"

"We kind of blind-sided them. They didn't see us coming at all." Sarah giggled as Shiro joined them.

"Hopefully word doesn't spread, otherwise the other cartels might use special precautions." he said, taking Sarah's hand in his.

"Oooh, that is a good thought." she said, mostly to herself, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Still, we can handle it." he said confidently. Shiro brought her hand to his lips, softly kissing her fingers, a twinkle in his eye. "Together, I think we can handle anything."


	98. Chapter 96

The second cartel went down easier than the first. They were surprisingly incompetent. A week after they sent the first cartel packing, they had outed and forced the second off world.

"How's the randomised transmitter coming?" Shiro asked one afternoon after he had helped Satla distribute food. He deposited a few scrap pieces of tech beside her as she toiled away.

Sarah paused, taking the small flashlight out of her mouth. "Well enough I suppose." she sighed. "I got the booster working, so we can contact a few surrounding systems now instead of just this one. But there's no point if I can't hide the signal…."

"Can you maybe get a coded message out?"

"Technically, yea. I've got morse code SOS broadcasting. You don't think the Galra will know what that is….do you?" she asked, looking at him worriedly.

"I think it's pretty obscure. But then, would anyone else pick up on it?"

Sarah stared at the floor pensively. "UniPeace has ties to the various human organisations….I'm also kinda hoping Krisox might pick up on our activities."

Shiro frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well…I hear he has connections to the criminal underworld….I imagine the cartels we've booted will be making noise." she said with a smile.

"Oh, that is a good point." Shiro said, returning her smile.

They both looked up as Satla entered. "Ah, Shiro. I was hoping to request your help. But first, Sarah," she walked over and set down a hand-sized metal box. "I found in one of the ships left behind."

"Oh my god, thank you! This might be exactly what I need…." Sarah said excitedly, sticking the small flashlight in her mouth as she got back to work.

"What'd you need, Satla?" Shiro asked, standing up.

"I think I found something that might help your White Lion ship." she answered, motioning for him to follow her. "But it is most heavy."

"Gotcha. Lead the way."

As they left, Sarah closed her eyes and reached far out with her mind to White. She had finally managed to return to her Lion after they booted the first cartel, and White had told her what she needed. Ever since, she had been mentally communicating with her Lion everyday. She connected now, informing her that Satla and Shiro were on their why; White was most relieved. Sarah smiled and opened her eyes, returning to her work.

"White's doing a lot better." Shiro said that night as he and a tired Satla returned.

"That's great!" Sarah said relieved, smiling brightly. "I think I have good news, too. The randomised transmitter is scrambling the signal like it's supposed to. Now I just need to find a few relay points and I should be able to connect to the internet at large."

"That's great!" he said, sitting next to her and kissing her cheek. "Things are really…" He trailed off as they all looked up; it sounded as though a small craft was hovering above them, landing on the roof.

"Krisox?!" Sarah gasped incredulously. She jumped to her feet and ran up the rickety stairs to the flat roof, closely followed by Satla and Shiro. When she stepped into the night air, she found a seemingly empty rooftop; she knew it was his ship's cloaking. A second later a hatch opened from the empty air and her alien brother stepped out.

"Sarah, thank fuck." he said, relieved, when he saw her. She hurried to him and they hugged tightly. "What the fuck happened? I thought you guys were only going to be recuperating for a few days."

"We got a surprise visit from Haggar." Shiro said grimly.

"C'mon, let's go inside." Sarah said, releasing her brother.

After they returned to Satla's flat and Sarah and Shiro explained all that had transpired, it was Krisox's turn.

"How'd you find us?" Shiro asked, leaning forward.

"You can't make ripples in the criminal underworld and not have it fly under my radar." he said cheekily. "Speaking of which," Krisox turned to Sarah. "There is a massive ugly storm headin this way and you need to get out before it gets here."

"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning.

"The big cartel that has dominion over these parts have noticed what you've been doing. And they are not happy. They aren't like the weak sauce cartels you sent packing; they will bring the hammer down on you as hard as they possibly can."

"We can't stop now, Krisox!" she said indignantly. "I just got the randomised transmitter working, I'm going to contact UniPeace as soon as I can so they can keep helping these people. But I can't leave with them still suffering."

"Sarah, you are a fucking saint, I get that, but you are not prepared for this fight in the slightest."

"So prepare me! Tell me what you know, what I need to know, help us out!"

Krisox looked away before sighing. "I can't openly get involved. Nitro and Willix….we have a tense treaty that states we aren't allowed to get involved in the others' affairs. I'll tell you what I can but I can't be here when they come."

"That's fine, do what you have to. But I'm not leaving. Not until my work here is done." she said fiercely, arms crossed over her chest.

The siblings glared at each other for a moment before Krisox rolled his eyes. "You're a pain in the ass, ya know?"

She smiled triumphantly. "Yea, I know."


	99. Chapter 97

"Sarah, Krisox might be right….This sounds too big for us to handle alone…." Shiro suggested a few days after her brother arrived.

"What happened to 'together we can handle anything?'" she asked shrewdly, still fiddling with the randomised transmitter.

"I didn't expect us to be up against an organisation whose influence is as widespread as the Galra's." he smoothly noted.

She didn't have a response for that. It was true that the cartel, Willix, almost rivaled Nitro and the Galra Empire in power and influence. Neither of them had counted on that. But she was determined; it physically pained her to think of the people suffering. She was confident she could help and so she was going to try.

"We have to do something, Shiro. And we may very well be some of the only ones who can do something." she said softly after a long silence.

"I know." he sighed. "It'd be nice if we had…well more than just us. If we had UniPeace at our backs, or even Voltron….though Voltron might be overkill." he chuckled, earning a smile from her.

"Krisox said he boosted our signal and connected to some relay points….it's only a matter of time before UniPeace picks up on it."

"But would they get here in time?"

"I don't know." she whispered.

"I think the one thing that could work in your favour would be taking out the boss. Willix isn't like Nitro; their boss is kind of like an earth king. Succession passes to his heirs, only, he doesn't have any and he never nominated one." Krisox said, pulling up profiles from his phone.

"How does that work in our favour?" Shiro asked.

"If he dies, who takes over?" Sarah postulated, a sly smile gracing her lips.

Krisox nodded. "The cartel would be reduced to in-fighting and tear itself apart. As far ras I can tell," he sighed, leaning back on his hands. "that's your only hope of defeating Willix."

"How do we draw him out?" Satla asked, watching Krisox's face closely.

"I don't think you'd have to, honestly."

Sarah frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, my intel network has dug up some evidence that implies Zarkon and Willix made a deal of some kind. They aren't exactly working together, but they'd have some access to Galran databases, and let's face it," he smirked. "you two aren't that hard to notice. My money's on him coming personally to make sure you two are captured securely so he can take you to Zarkon. For a price, of course-but I don't think Zarkon would spare any expense."

Sarah nodded pensively. "So just wait until he gets here and take him out."

"To put it simply….yea. Though I hope you'll have more of a plan than that."

She chuckled, play punching her brother. "You know I do."

Over the following days, Krisox told them all he could about Willix. When his ship's sensors picked up a fleet approaching the planet, Sarah had expected him to leave, but he insisted on staying; he wanted to be close by, 'just in case'.

One large ship broke away from the fleet, descending to hover in the planet's atmosphere. A handful of smaller ships spewed forth, circling the shanty city a few times before settling down, each on a different street.

Sarah and Shiro waited in the middle of one of the larger streets; Krisox had said they wouldn't hesitate or even give any warning before killing innocent bystanders, and she wanted to avoid that. Four ships landed, two on either side of them; the troops that emerged quickly surrounded them and brought them in with little struggle. If Krisox's warnings were true, there wasn't any point pretending to not be them.

The heavily armed aliens outnumbered them twenty to one; whoever ran Willix was not in the vicinity of fucking around when it came to them. And he seemed very impatient; they were standing before him in under a half hour.

The bulky alien watched as they entered. Sarah couldn't see his face, or even an inch of skin; his entire body was covered in clothing, armour, or mechanical apparatuses. It seemed he was taking the cyborg route to immortality.

He observed them both before he spoke. "You are smaller than I had expected, White witch." His voice was muffled slightly, and had an unnerving robotic element to it. "Right, well, let's get all our cards on the table, shall we? There's no way you two would have just given up like that. Where's your accomplice?"

Sarah felt herself grow nervous; How did he know? But she kept her face blank. "I don't know what you're talking about." she began, surprised by how level her voice was. "We learned that you would not hesitate to murder civilians without warning. We want to avoid bloodshed as much as possible, and saw this as the proper course of action."

"Right, and how did you learn that we murder civilians?"

Sarah blinked, thrown off by his question; luckily Shiro covered for her. "We interrogated some of the other cartels before sending them off world."

"I see, I see…..so we got some squealers amongst our ranks, eh?" he asked, looking around the room, his glowing orange eyes piercing into everyone present. "Good cover. Very good. No matter." he turned back to them. "I will find your accomplice. And you will watch them die. Then, you will be taken to Zarkon. I hear his witch has special plans for you." He gestured to her with one of his robotic fingers. "Oh, but before you go…." He nodded to someone behind her, and suddenly a needle was in her neck, injecting god-knows-what. She cried out in pain, but her world grew foggy; she heard Shiro calling for her, then she was carried down a hall, then she was lying on the cold floor….

When her world balanced out, she rubbed her sore neck and sat up. "What was that?" she grumbled, looking around. She and Shiro were in separate cells, facing each other across a small hallway. His arms were chained above him against the wall.

"They sure did see us comin." he said grimly. "He said he injected you with something that subdued your magic. Are you okay?"

"The injection site is sore and my head's pounding, but otherwise I'm okay." she murmured. She silently prayed Satla had boarded safely; she was their only shot at getting out and killing the boss. Her eyes roamed before landing on the hefty cuff around Shiro's Galra arm. Her brows furrowed. "What's that on your wrist?"

"Some kind of magnetic inhibitor." He nodded when her eyes grew wide. "They saw us coming from miles away."

She opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced by the sound of a heavy metal door banging open. The cartel boss entered, followed by four others. He stopped at Sarah's cell door, his back to Shiro; he was focused solely on her.

"Your accomplice is very skilled. I haven't detected them yet. But it is only a matter of time. I'm wondering if I can speed up the process." He waved his hand over the lock, causing the door to open inwards. Sarah rose to her feet, backing up until she hit the wall behind her. He towered over her, stopping only a foot in front of her.

"Don't you touch her!" Shiro yelled fiercely.

"And what will you do if I do not comply?" the hulking man in front of her said without turning around. He leaned forward, his masked face only a few inches from her. "Who is your accomplice?"

She nervously shook her head. "T-there isn't one." she insisted meekly.

"Tsk, tsk." he murmured. "I don't know if we can make you talk. But let's see if we can make him talk."

"Wha-?!" she began, before gasping; the boss grasped her neck, raising her into the air. She spluttered, gasping for air, clutching the metal hand wrapped around as her legs kicked the air fruitlessly.

"Stop!" Shiro screamed; she could hear him straining against his restraints. "Please, just, stop, she's telling the truth!"

"I think not." the boss said calmly. "You need to do better, Champion."

"Ridel." one of his men said from outside the cell; she could only just barely make it out, as she felt consciousness slipping. "Krisox is here, he says he has intel for you."

"Krisox?" the boss, Ridel, said, confused and intrigued. "Bring him here, I'm not done." Just before she felt she was going to pass out, Ridel threw her against the back wall; she cried out in pain, sliding down to her hands and knees. Sarah gasped for air, trying to make sense of what just happened. What the fuck is Krisox doing here? He said he couldn't get involved…

A moment later, she heard her brother's boisterous voice. "Ridel, long time no-Oh, so it really is true then." It took her a moment to get her vision to focus through her still watery eyes; Ridel was outside her cell now, closing the door, as he faced her brother.

"What's true?" he asked gruffly as Krisox stopped before him.

"Rumour had it that the White Witch and the Black Paladin were causing a ruckus in these parts."

"Ear to the ground as usual." Ridel murmured. "You have intel for me?"

"How'd you nab em?" Krisox continued, peering into her cell.

"Supposedly they heroically gave themselves up. Got em subdued with inhibitors; serum for the witch and a magnetic cuff for the paladin. Now answer my question."

"Wha-? Oh, right, right." Krisox straightened up. "A certain mutual lady friend of ours has caught wind of who is here and who has come to grab em and who that someone will take them to. She wants them herself."

"Really now…." Ridel scrutinised Krisox for a moment before replying. "And why are you suddenly so altruistic?"

"Whaaat, a friend can't help out a friend? Like I hope you, my friend, will when Nitro inevitably goes to absorb Reign?"

"That's what I thought. Very well." Ridel gestured out. "Do you know where she intends to take my prizes?" He, Krisox, and all but two of the others exited the cell block.

"Well as I'm sure you know I'm not exactly her confidant, but my sources say…" her brother's voice trailed off as the door closed behind them.

"Are you okay?" Shiro asked as soon as they were gone. Her gaze found him, straining against his restraints to be as close as to her as he possibly could.

"Yea…." she said breathlessly. "Yea." Lucky Krisox showed up. she thought to him over their connection.

Any idea what he's planning? Shiro asked, concerned. She shook her head. Shiro sighed and looked over to the two aliens standing guard. Any idea where Satla-?

He cut off when the door opened again and Satla entered. She subdued the guards with surprising ease. "Sorry I took so long. They have heightened security with you two on board."

"Don't worry about it." Sarah said, still massaging her throat.

"Are you okay?" Satla asked, her six eyes blinking in concern as she opened Sarah's cell door.

"Yea, I'll be fine." the small human assured her, pushing herself up to her feet. "The boss, Ridel, got a little rough interrogating me."

"My apologies." Satla repeated guiltily as she opened Shiro's cell door.

"Don't be, dear, there's nothing to apologise for. You've performed phenomenally." Sarah insisted, inspecting the downed guards. She saw her friend nod appreciatively out of the corner of her eye as Satla undid Shiro's restraints.

"It seems the keycard I stole does not work on his cuff."

Sarah turned and stood, frowning. "If he's as thorough as I think he is, Ridel is the only one who can remove it."

"I don't need Galra tech to hold my own." Shiro said confidently, walking over to her and kissing the top of her head.

"I know you don't, babe." Sarah said with a smile. "Let's get going."

"This isn't exactly one of your more solid plans." Shiro whispered as they crouched in a maintenance shaft, watching the hall below them through vents.

"Yea, you got me there." Sarah murmured. "But we were kind of going in blind…how do you make a solid plan for that?"

"I'm sure if anyone could make one it'd be you." he said, smirking cheekily which earned him a light elbow jab. "Hey, careful!"

Sarah stuck her tongue at him before turning to Satla. "Can I see the map again?" Her friend nodded, pulling up the holographic display for the hundredth time.

"Sarah, you almost have that thing memorised. Do you think it changes in the five seconds since you last looked at it?" Shiro whispered, slightly exasperated.

"I don't know…I just keep feeling like I'm missing something…." she murmured, her eyes scanning the flickering blue map.

"I cannot imagine what that would be, as you have studied it many times." Satla input, watching her friend curiously.

Sarah sighed. "Yea. Why don't we…see if we can get into the control room with him in it and lock the doors maybe?" She shrugged.

"Worth a shot." Shiro said with a nod, turning and crawling along the shaft towards the bridge.

The shaft ended just outside the bridge, emptying into a large room full of mechanical equipment. The three stayed low behind some of the louder machines as they planned what to do to get inside the control room. They had no weapons, but Shiro offered to take some guys out and take theirs. He was gone and back in almost no time at all, carrying two hand blasters and a rifle in one hand, and dragging a passed out alien with the other.

"This is gonna go very fast." he said after giving the girls the hand blasters. "You cover one end of the hall and I'll cover the other, Satla, you get the door." He paused just a moment, watching Sarah carefully. "Ready?"

Her wide eyes met his gaze and she nodded firmly.

Shiro took care of the three guards in front of the bridge door, allowing Sarah to cover her end of the hall and Satla to hurry to the door. The keycard she had stolen opened it in no time, and the three rushed in, now directing their fire towards those inside as Satla hastily closed and locked the doors behind them. When all was said and done, three aliens were down for the count and two were cowering behind control panels. Ridel and Krisox were towards the front by the massive window; her brother had ducked when they entered guns blazing, but Ridel didn't seem to have flinched.

"Ha! I knew it. You little liars." he said triumphantly. Sarah shared a confused and concerned look with her husband, keeping her blaster focused on the cartel leader.

"Dude, they're pointing guns at you." Krisox said dryly, rising from his hiding place.

"Blasters do not scare me. I can recover." He rolled his shoulders back. "Thank you for revealing your accomplice. I look forward to yours faces as you watch her die."

"You aren't touching her." Sarah snarled fiercely.

"And who's gonna stop me?" he chuckled, advancing towards them.

Shiro instinctively blocked his path, swinging his rifle when it did in fact prove ineffective. Sarah pulled Satla behind her as the two fought.

"Shiro!" she gasped when Ridel kicked him hard over a row of control panels. The boss turned to her, advancing as she backed up fearfully. Guns didn't work and she couldn't use magic; she had absolutely nothing to fight back with. She whimpered when her back hit the wall; she couldn't think of an escape, her mind clouded by bone-chilling fear.

"Not so tough without your magic, eh, Witch?" he sneered, smacking the gun out of her hands, roughly grabbing her neck and hoisting her into the air again. "I think I'll crush your windpipe this time."

She closed her eyes, struggling in vain; she felt herself gasping for air and heard herself cry out in pain when he began to squeeze tighter….

And then she was on the ground, coughing and spluttering as she tried to understand what just happened. Ridel also looked confused, hovering immobile in the air as he was.

"Sorry, mate." Krisox said angrily. "No one touches my family."

"What?!" Ridel roared angrily. "This bitch is your sister?"

"Yes, and language like that is uncalled for." her brother replied smoothly. "Sarah, you okay?"

"Y-yea." she gasped out, still recovering.

"You back stabbing piece of shit." Ridel growled, still hovering in the air. Sarah delicately rose to her feet and slipped through the control consoles to Satla, taking her friends frightened hand.

"Yea, whatever, as if that's novel in our line of work." Krisox said dismissively, still holding his hands up as he kept Ridel in the air. "Yo, Shiro, you okay dude?"

"Yea, yea, I've had worse." she heard Shiro say from across the room.

"I'm sure you have. Okay, now wha-aaughh!"

"Krisox!" Sarah screamed as her brother fell to the ground, convulsing. She ran to him just as the alien who had jabbed him with a dart scurried away. Sarah quickly removed the dart, tossing it to the side. Suddenly, Satla was by her shoulder.

"Let me look." she said; Sarah squeezed out of the small space between consoles, allowing her friend to inspect her unconscious brother.

"Sarah…" Shiro said slowly. Looking up, she found Ridel picking himself up from the ground.

"You lot just royally fucked up. Let's take a trip, eh? Right into the ground. Whoever survives wins." he growled maliciously, flicking a few switches and slamming a button down.

Suddenly, the ship was making a nose dive, plunging towards the planet surface. Shiro stumbled to the pilot seat, trying desperately to pull them up, to no avail. Sarah had herself braced between two consoles, watching as the planet's surface grew closer with widening eyes.

At the same time, an odd sensation washed over her. She felt herself reconnect with the quintessence around her. Thinking quickly, she made a quintessence barrier bubble around her party, bracing herself for impact; the barrier would absorb most of it, she knew that much. According to her studies, it would allow them to tumble gently. According to her studies.

She closed her eyes tightly as the ground rose to meet them, focusing on her barrier. The crash was deafening, exploding all around them. She felt herself thrown through the air, before hitting something solid and firm and blacking out.


	100. Chapter 98

Satla slowly pushed her aching body up, gently rising to her feet. She stumbled slightly as she looked around in awe at the wreckage that surrounded her. Luckily, the ship crashed on the outskirts of the city, where no one lived. Only a handful of vacant buildings occupied this area-or had occupied this area. The ship's wreckage was strewn about everywhere she looked, small fires fighting for life amongst the twisted metal. Satla's six eyes scanned the wreckage, looking for living bodies she recognised. She found Krisox not to far from her and rushed over to check his status. She found he was breathing and couldn't find any superficial wounds; she stood again, looking around from her new vantage point. She would find Sarah or Shiro and bring them to Krisox, as she was not strong enough to carry the unconscious Dularian.

Satla ventured through the wreckage carefully. She could not understand how the four could have gotten so separated; they had all been close together just before impact. She tried to remember the moments immediately following the crash, but found she could not.

She rounded a corner and her eyes lit up as they found Sarah. The small human was sprawled out on her front and seemed unconscious. Satla knelt by her friend, checking her for signs of life and sighing with relief when she found some.

"Sarah." Satla prompted, gently shaking the girl. It concerned her that her friend did not respond; was this normal for humans? Before she could further pursue that thought, the sound of boots crunching ground made her whip around, startled.

"Did the crash kill 'er? No, I suspect you'd be upset if that were the case. No matter. I'll take care of it myself." Ridel said, approaching the pair slowly through the wreckage. Satla noticed he his steps seemed laboured, as if he were in a great deal of pain. She braced herself and stood up defiantly.

"You will not touch her." she said firmly, taking a few steps towards him to further illustrate her point.

"What? You're gonna stop me?" Ridel laughed; his laugh turned into heavy, metallic-sounding coughing. One of his metal arms reached around behind him. "I think not." he said as he pulled a blaster from its holster on his back, pointing it at her.

A loud bang rang out, echoing through the hunks of twisted, flaming metal. Shiro frantically jumped to his feet, fighting off the dizziness that came from standing too quickly. He began running in the direction of the sound, ignoring his pain as his sides screamed at him. He hurtled a pile of rebar and wall, stumbling when he reached the other side but he pushed himself off the ground, forcing himself to keep going.

When he rounded the next corner, he quickly grasped the situation, but did not allow himself time to dwell on it; he knew that if he did, Sarah would die. Satla had seemed to delay Ridel for a time, but she had been defenseless against his blaster and now lay on the ground as red pooled around her middle. With a scream of rage, Shiro rushed Ridel, punching the alien hard with his Galra hand. The cartel boss dropped his blaster in surprise, allowing Shiro to kick it away and continue attacking.

Shiro's angry voice brought Sarah out of unconsciousness. She groaned, pushing herself up to her hands and knees before shaking her head, trying to clear the fogginess. As her vision came into focus, she gasped in horror when she found her friend dying.

"Satla, no, no, no, no!" she cried, taking her friend's hand and squeezing it. Satla's eyes were unfocused, darting around the sky; she seemed dazed and in shock. "Stay with me, please." Sarah cried, tears streaming down her face.

A strangled cry caught her attention; looking up, she found it came from where she presumed Shiro and Ridel had moved to in the midst of fighting. "Go…" Satla whispered, barely audible. Sarah's grief-stricken eyes returned to her friend who was now focused on her and smiling sadly. Sarah felt hopelessness pool in her stomach. How could she leave her friend while she died? But she couldn't not run to her husband's aid….

Sarah nodded, gently resting Satla's hand on her chest before running after Shiro. She squeezed between two enormous piles of wreckage, taking a second to grasp the situation when she reached the other side.

Shiro's Galra hand-with the inhibitor cuff still one-seemed be magnetically connected to some of the twisted metal. He struggled against it, desperately trying to pull his arm away, but in vain. "How about them magnets?" Ridel laughed harshly from several feet away.

"Leave him alone!" she yelled fiercely. Ridel whipped his head around, now turning and approaching her.

"Hello, little witch. You ready to take me on?"

"Sarah, go take care of Satla!" Shiro yelled, still trying pull against the magnet.

She didn't respond, glaring at Ridel. "Or are you just going to shrink into a frail little thing, like before?" he asked maliciously.

"I think I'm ready to take you on." she said, her voice low and deadly. She raised a hand, stopping him in his tracks as a glowing white orb formed in her palm.

"No! It was supposed to last for days!" he fumed.

"Looks like you were wrong, bitch." she commented, smirking.

"You can't kill me!" he growled. "I've taken every precaution in the book; I can't die!"

"Oh I think we'll see about that." Sarah murmured, before beginning her complicated movements. It wasn't something white had taught her, or even told her about; this was something Sarah had found on her own out of curiosity. Slowly, the air around Ridel began to glow, and she smiled maliciously as he struggled and cried out for mercy. She slowly pulled her hand upwards, palm down, as a string of dark blue light was drawn out of him. When the tail left him, his body went limp; she dropped it, wrapping his quintessence in on itself until it had become a tight, dense glowing blue orb. It floated to her, where she hovered her hands around it before delicately lowered it into the ground, where it disappeared from view.

Sarah knelt on the ground, panting slightly, before she rose and walked to Ridel's body. She found the device that controlled Shiro's cuff, and after some tinkering, released him of the inhibitor.

"What…what was that…." he asked cautiously as he ran up to join her.

"You heard him; he took every precaution in the book." she began, leading the way back to her dying friend. "That wasn't in the book." She paused for a moment, focusing on walking and not falling on her tired, wobbly legs. "I took his quintessence and gave it to the planet. It's not much and won't revive it but…it's something." She could feel Shiro's uneasy gaze as though it had a physical effect. She sighed; they could discuss it further later.

When they reached Satla, Sarah collapsed to her knees, beginning to cry again; her friend was gone, she could tell. Shiro knelt beside her, his arm around her shoulders. Through her tears, she moved her hands about in a similar fashion as just before; the air began to glow again, and she made a sea green ball of light from Satla's quintessence, lowering it into the ground.

"S-she loved this planet." Sarah said, her voice thick with emotion. "She could've left after Zarkon-after they…" She paused to take a deep, shuddering breath. "Her family could afford to leave. She insisted they go off world but…she stayed to help….she-she'd still be-if I didn't-" Shiro pulled her into his chest as she completely broke down, sobbing as she clung to him.

"Shuuush, she understood, you were trying to help these people. That probably meant the world to her….a stranger who crash landed on this planet, yet you risked your life to help them survive." He kissed the top of her head, rubbing her back methodically.

They sat like that for a long while, until she ran out of tears and Krisox found them. The three held a small, earth-like funeral for Satla at the end of her street, where it met the wilderness, before burying her. Sarah and Krisox manipulated the earth to form a monument honouring her deceased friend.

A few days after, UniPeace arrived, and began setting up stations and facilities to help care for the citizens. Sarah had received word from White that she was back in fully working order, and Krisox offered to fly them out.

As they passed over the wreckage of Ridel's ship, a large patch of green caught Sarah's eye.

"Hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing at the HUD as Krisox focused on it.

"Looks like flora. But I thought you said the planet was dead?"

"And why's it in two patches that's…weird."

"Sarah…." Shiro said slowly, taking her hand. "The quintessence. It restored life to the small area."

"What?" Krisox asked, confused.

"I uh…kind of extracted Ridel's quintessence…forcefully….and implanted it in the ground. And Satla had already….but her quintessence…." she trailed off, her voice going soft and almost inaudible. Krisox nodded, appraising his sister curiously. "What?"

"Nothing. Tell me again where your Lion is?"

Hours later, after returning to the castle and enduring the endless interrogating from the others, Shiro held Sarah in their bed, both just resting and relaxing. "Sarah…" he began softly after a long while of just listening to the other's steady breathing.

She sighed; she knew he was going to bring it up sooner or later. "I won't do it again." she murmured. "But I don't regret it. Ridel had it coming."

Shiro was quiet for a long moment, seemingly lost in thought.

"Do you think…" he began hesitantly. "Do you think it's something Hagger can do?"

It felt like her blood ran cold. That hadn't even occurred to her. "I-I….I don't know." she whispered timidly. Shiro tightened his hold, kissing the top of her head.

"I won't let her try." he murmured fiercely, for her ears only. She nodded, and tried to relax, but found it difficult.

 _Is that something Hagger can do….?_


End file.
